Operation: Random
by Skye Rocket
Summary: This is the tale of two teens who thought that they'd have a very boring holiday. That is, until a large group of wizards came into their lives. A tale of brother and sister, teenage angst, mind-boggling activities, and a heapin' helpin' of family fun...
1. In the Beginning

Operation: Random By Toad and Skye Rocket  
  
Disclaimer: We do not own any of the following things used in this fan fiction, including that of anything relating to Harry Potter or any sort of product mentioned herein.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Part One  
  
"How does a sink hole just appear out of nowhere?" Mary exclaimed as she and Trevor walked through the front door.  
  
"Well, actually, it doesn't just 'appear out of nowhere,' it's been forming over a long period of time," Trevor explained in response.  
  
"All I know is that Mom and Dad aren't going to like us being out of school for such a long time," Mary said with a sigh.  
  
"Well, I for one am very happy about this whole thing," Trevor said with a smirk. Mary frowned.  
  
"Are you sure we won't get bored, doing nothing for three months, day in and day out?" she said with a dramatic sigh. Mary was very dramatic sometimes.  
  
"Hey, school sucks. In my life, that's the only thing I've learned for sure," Trevor replied, taking the carton of chocolate milk out of the fridge and taken a swig out of the carton. Mary gave a small disgusted noise.  
  
"That's utterly revolting," she said. Trevor shrugged and grabbed the box of Lucky Charms off of the top of the fridge and shoving his hand into it, munching on a small handful.  
  
"Aww. Use a bowl, please!" Mary protested. Trev shook his head indignantly. Mary crossed her arms.  
  
Suddenly there was a huge bang that came from the living room. The two siblings exchanged shocked looks and bolted into the family room, leaving behind the chocolate flavored milk and the sugary breakfast food behind.  
  
In his head, Trevor wondered what else would happen today. Mary was wondering if a sinkhole had opened up under the foosball table.  
  
"What in the holy-?" Trevor didn't get to finish his sentence. He didn't need to either, as they were both thinking the same thing. There was a pile of bodies in the center of the room, in front of the china cabinet. Mary put a hand over her mouth to cover her gaping jaw.  
  
"What the hell is this?" Trev asked finally. Mary shrugged and inched closer to the large pile in the center of the room. She raised the toe of her black boot on her right foot slowly and poked it into the palm of a pale hand with really long fingers on it.  
  
The hand twitched and began to move. There was a large, muffled groan from the bottom of the pile. Mary cried and leapt back from the mound in the center of the room. Trevor grabbed her arm.  
  
"Should we call the police?" he asked her, sounding a little afraid. Mary shrugged. There was a lot of 'shrugging' in conversations between the two.  
  
"Not yet. They could be a bunch of harmless people," she reasoned.  
  
"Or they could be a bunch of bloodthirsty, knife-wielding psychos!" Trevor said, turning rather pale.  
  
"We are not going to kill you," someone muttered. "We just sort of got lost or something?" Mary stumbled backwards and grabbed the baseball bat that was propped up against the sofa, holding it up threateningly.  
  
"How do I know you aren't lying?" Mary screeched. Suddenly Trevor realized why his sister was taking drama next semester.  
  
"Listen, woman, I am trapped under fourteen unconscious people. Would. I. Lie. To. You," the voice snapped.  
  
Uh oh. Now they'd done it, Trevor thought. Whoever had said that wasn't going to get any sympathy from Mary. There was nothing she hated more than being called 'woman.' Mary looked ready to kill.  
  
"Don't ever call me woman!" she yelped, sounding peeved. She crossed her arms in anger.  
  
"You'll have to excuse her," Trevor said. "She hates being called that."  
  
"Be quiet, Trev!" Mary snapped. "Listen. I have to let the dogs out. I'll be right back." She walked away.  
  
To these folks, Trevor was much more sympathetic.  
  
"Um, can I do anything to help you out?" he asked, stepping around the heap. "I mean, well, you're sort of lying on my rug, and I was supposed to vacuum today." Trevor was trying to be polite and all, but he was sort of frustrated at the scenario.  
  
"Oh, no," the voice said dryly. "I think I'll just stay here and have my bones crushed. La-dee-dah, what fun!" To his relief, Mary came back from letting the three dachshunds outside.  
  
"Whatever," Mary said angrily, shoving a man with long dark hair off of the top of the pile. He hit the tile in front of the fireplace and groaned, swearing under his breath.  
  
Soon Mary was helping the people up and Trevor was doing his best to make space on the sofa, loveseat and chairs. Once everyone was assembled and sitting on the seats that were around the room, Mary and Trev sat on the floor in front of the hearth.  
  
"Listen, we have had a hard day. Our school fell into a sinkhole. I woke up later than usual. I had a math test," Mary said slowly, trying not to get upset. She got angry easily.  
  
"What she means is," Trevor cut him off. "This is a little much for us to handle today. So please try to make things easier for us by using little sarcasm and everything else that would make things, well, difficult."  
  
"Fine, fine. My name is Sirius Black, and I'm a wizard." The other people around this 'Sirius' fellow looked shocked at this revelation. "Anyways, we were at the wizard school 'Hogwarts' and then we just ended up here."  
  
Trevor and Mary glanced at each other.  
  
"Tell me, Sirius. Do you drink?" Mary asked. Trevor elbowed her in the ribs. "But seriously, are you pulling my leg?"  
  
"Not at all. Why would I make that up?"  
  
"Because you're crazy. I may be unattractive and have a low math grade, but I know what it's like to deal with crazy people," Mary snapped.  
  
"Mar, what does your physical appearance and your grades have to do with this?" Trevor asked, exasperated. Mary's face crumpled. "I don't know!" she wailed. "I've been under high stress lately!"  
  
"Just relax", a sort of pudgy boy with blond hair said, patting Mary on the arm, "My name is Neville Longbottom, and I hate to be called by my last name."  
  
"Neville's right", said a boy with flaming red hair. He looked to be about sixteen. "My name is Percy Weasley, and *I* take great pride in my academics, which pays off *greatly*!"  
  
"I'm Oliver Wood," said a boy sitting on the sofa. He had dusky brown hair and brown eyes. "I'm the Gryffindor Quidditch captain."  
  
"Charmed," she said with ice in her voice.  
  
"Aww, hell, Mar. Who put a bug up your-." Mary cut him off.  
  
"Sheesh. No one. I just feel ill all of a sudden," Mary said softly. "I'm going to go make a bag of popcorn and get a coke. We didn't have time for lunch, remember? You want anything?"  
  
"Um, can I have a toaster strudel?" he asked. She shrugged.  
  
"OK." With that, she turned on the heel of her boot and stumbled out of the room.  
  
"Is she okay?" a boy with bright green eyes and messy black hair asked, sounding a bit concerned.  
  
"Who, Mary? Of course she is. She's just a little, uh, emotional sometimes, and she had a bit of a shock when she was in history and the floor caved in, as you might imagine," Trevor said, defending his sister.  
  
"I heard that," Mary yelled from the kitchen. Trevor smiled and blushed.  
  
"So, introduce yourselves. That way, I won't have to call you, like, Boy- With-Black-Hair or Male-Who-Is-Pale," Trev replied.  
  
There was Harry with the black hair and that ever-so-odd scar. Then Draco with the pale skin and white-blond hair. Fred and George, who were twins and Percy's brothers. Ron, who had the same red hair as Percy, Fred and George (given that they were all related as brothers) and his sister Ginny.  
  
There was Snape, who looked PO'ed all the time, and Lucius, who was Draco's father and looked just like him (except with longer hair). There was Sirius, who had shaggy black hair and eyes the same color. Remus, who had honey brown eyes and lightly graying, brown hair. And Gilderoy, who was apparently a famous wizard's author (and greatly disliked by the other occupants of the room).  
  
Finally there was Hermione. Hermione had bushy brown hair and was sort of short for her age. She was obviously very smart, and almost a know-it-all sort of person.  
  
Mary returned with much more than she had set out to get. She had her arms weighted down with Pringles tubes, three two-liter bottles of Vanilla Coke and a large bag of candy corn. Oh, and her popcorn and Trevor's blueberry toaster strudel. She dropped them onto the coffee table and sat next to it.  
  
"Enjoy," she said. It was obvious that Mary was making an effort to be nice and erase the preconceived notions of her being a crazy lady.  
  
Not saying she wasn't, though.  
  
Everyone except Hermione and Harry eyed the food oddly.  
  
"What?" Mary asked, looking at their odd expressions. "It's not poisoned. It's candy. And soda. And chips. Everything you need to get a cavity."  
  
"Ah, in that case," Gilderoy said. Trevor got the ever-so-strange feeling that this Gilderoy fellow was going to be a little on the annoying side.  
  
But just then the door flew open. A woman with brown hair that had red highlights and brown eyes hurried up the stairs. She threw her arms around Mary and Trevor, who blushed furiously.  
  
"Oh! My babies! I heard what happened! Was it awful? Are you alright? Is everyone okay? Are you emotionally distraught?" she cried to her children.  
  
"Mom! I can't breathe!" Trevor rasped. The woman let go.  
  
"Yes, it was horrible. Yes, we are fine. Yes, no one was hurt. No, we are emotionally fine," Mary recited automatically.  
  
"Well, in that case, who are your friends?" Mom asked, looking around as if noticing them all for the first time since she had arrived.  
  
"Mom, you'll think we're bonkers. But they came from Hogwarts. It's a wizard school. They don't know what happened. But it's true!" Mary explained.  
  
Mom blinked and sat quite still. Suddenly she threw her arms around her daughter.  
  
"Sweetie. I know that today you had a shocking event take place in a place you felt safe."  
  
"Moooom!" Mary protested. "You make it sound like I was attacked or whatnot!" Her mother held up her hand, forcing her to silence.  
  
"But, although your safe haven may have been disrupted, if this is a cry for attention, it isn't a very convincing one," Mom said, sounding semi- stern.  
  
"Mom, she's not 'crying for attention,'" Trevor broke in. Mary had folded her arms. "It's the truth."  
  
"Oh. OK," Mom said, patting Mary on the back. "Listen, I heard from another para about your school. So I rushed over here to speak with you and make sure you were all right." Mom's job was to work with kids with different problems at a school. She liked it because it allowed her to get home at a time close to when the kids got home.  
  
"Well, I need to go," Mom said, sighing and kissing each of her children on the top of the head. "They'll be wanting me back, I suppose." She patted the two on top of the head.  
  
"Mary, sweetie. Try to get some rest. Maybe take a nap?" She turned back to the 'guests.' "It was very nice to meet you. I hope you enjoy our little home." Mom picked up her coat and walked out the door without another word.  
  
"Is that your mother?" Professor Snape asked in a sort of disgusted sounding way.  
  
"Yep. That's her. The human tornado," Mary said, grabbing up a handful of candy corn. "She can get anything done within a few hours. But chances are she might have to redo it." She gave a smile. "I guess that's where I get it." She seemed to relish the thought as she chewed her candy.  
  
"She seems very nice, though," Ron Weasley said. Mary's chewing slowed.  
  
"Yeah. She is," Mary agreed.  
  
"Are you going to take your nap?" Percy asked. Mary rolled her eyes and took a swig of Coke.  
  
"Not on your life. I may have seen the track of death disappear into the ground today, but I don't go to sleep until I have to," Mary informed them in a matter-of-fact tone. "But not to say that I didn't enjoy it when the whole thing dropped into oblivion. I mean, I must have run so many laps on there it would make my head implode with the very thought of it!" she exclaimed after a pause.  
  
Oliver gave a small grin. "You don't enjoy sports?"  
  
"Oh no, it's not that. I mean, ping-pong. Now, ping-pong is the game that should be taught in school. Or foosball. Not Tae Bo or aerobics. Or even basketball. When I was in the sixth grade I jammed my finger in basketball and it turned bright purple. It really hurt, ha," Mary said with a nervous chuckle. Trev elbowed her in the ribs.  
  
"Sorry. She sort of gets a bit carried away," he explained. Mary blushed.  
  
"So, um, how exactly did your school get into a sinkhole?" Harry asked.  
  
"Well, they didn't exactly tell us that. I mean, they were to busy screaming 'Hot damn! Get out of the school!' to explain," Trevor said thoughtfully. Mary smiled and bobbed her head.  
  
"Do you know when you'll be going back?" Neville asked.  
  
"Nope! And we're looking forward to a much-deserved vacation," Trevor exclaimed.  
  
"That's always good," Ginny agreed. "Having school off is the best."  
  
"Yup," Mary offered. "And at least I was able to grab my stuff before I left. I would have died if my CD player got sucked into the ground?"  
  
"CD player? Obviously a Muggle device," Draco said with a cough.  
  
"I guess so. It plays music. Like, songs on this little thin circle-y thing," Trevor explained.  
  
"Wicked," Ron said quietly.  
  
"Sort of. Kind of expensive," Mary said mournfully. "I'd die if it broke. Mom and Daddy gave it to me for Christmas."  
  
"Daddy?" George asked with a smirk.  
  
"It's an affectionate term," Trevor said quickly. "Mary's a daddy's girl." Mary beamed and ate a pizza flavored Pringle. "So. How long do you plan on staying? Through Christmas, maybe?"  
  
"Ooh. Christmas," Mary cooed. She gave a cough. "Sorry."  
  
"Well," Snape said. "I suppose we'll be out of here by New Year's." He seemed to be very unemotional.  
  
"That's great," Trevor said. Mary elbowed him. "Yeah, I mean, it will be great to have you here for so, erm, long." While his sister was incredibly emotional, Trevor was sort of odd in that he put his foot in his mouth sometimes.  
  
When they thought about it, the two of them realized that their family was Crazy with a capital C. Mom was always bustling from place to place. Dad acted like a big kid sometimes. Trevor rebelled for no apparent reason. And Mary just liked to make things interesting and pretend that she didn't care (she was incredibly sensitive a lot of the time, but she could be really odd sometimes in that she was a total opposite of that).  
  
But the important thing was that they all had fun. Usually. Sometimes they didn't have fun, not at all. Like when Mary and Trevor ended up filling the house with smoke while trying to cook. Or when Mom and Dad thought it would be 'fun' to spend the day driving around aimlessly and not going home, even when Trevor and Mary fought loudly and ended up in a huge catfight.  
  
But of course, that was nothing new. This was due to the fact that the two both had raging tempers and loved to be right.  
  
Trevor began devouring his toaster strudel. Everyone in the room except Mary stared at Trev with gaping mouths. Mary shifted uncomfortably where she sat. "Wha? What is it?" Trevor demanded.  
  
"Um, hon, I think it's the fact that you are pulverizing a fruit and bread- like substance and acting normal about it," Mary muttered. Trevor looked stricken.  
  
"Dude! I'm not 'pulverizing' anything! I'm just eating!" he snapped. Mary leaned away.  
  
"Ah, okay. But, um, we do have company. So please use your manners," she requested. Trevor scowled and folded his arms.  
  
Okay, so maybe Mary wasn't the only one who overreacted.  
  
"Um, no, really. It's all right; we don't mind. I mean, I've seen bad manners before. I've gone to school with Malfoy for quite a while now," Ron said, looking smug that he had cooked up such a nice little insult. Meanwhile, Draco's face had gone a flushed red color. His hands tightened into gripping fists, and Mary and Trevor were sure he would snap his own fingers off by pure force coming from this comment alone.  
  
Suddenly, Draco lunged at Ron, pummeling him with his fists. Mary immediately sprang into action.  
  
"Boys, boys," she said, pushing them off one another. "Let's play nicely, mmkay?"  
  
"You said 'mmkay,'" Trevor whispered to her. She blushed. Sometimes she could be very hung up on proper grammar, spelling and punctuation.  
  
"I'm sorry," Ron grunted. "It was the truth though," he added thoughtfully.  
  
"Ahem. We're all gentlemen and civilized ladies here, from what I can tell," Mary said, attempting to sound stern.  
  
"Don't try to boss me around," Draco snapped arrogantly. "I'm a pure-blood. You are a Muggle. End of story."  
  
"That shouldn't matter," Harry piped up through gritted teeth. Trevor and Mary shrugged.  
  
"Man, I don't care what that pansy says," Trev said. Draco and Lucius leapt to their feet.  
  
"Excuse me?" Draco snapped. Trevor hopped up, despite Mary trying to make him sit down.  
  
"You heard me!" Trevor yelled. Mary was now tugging on his arm. He sat. "I mean, ah, well, never mind." Draco smirked and he and his father sat back down.  
  
"So," Mary said uneasily. "Where are you planning on sleeping?"  
  
"I can sleep anywhere," Neville said. Percy agreed with him.  
  
"I'd prefer sleeping on a bed," Lucius Malfoy snapped coldly. Mary bobbed her head.  
  
"I'm sure we can let you use one of our guest rooms. We have two since I moved to the basement," Mary explained.  
  
"Oh really?" Sirius said. "Well, I can sleep on a floor." Trevor nodded.  
  
"Okay. Let's see," he said, thinking. "We can give Percy and Neville sleeping bags and stick them in the living room. Lucius can have the second floor guest bedroom. Remus, do you have a preference?"  
  
"Nope. I can sleep on a floor also," he said.  
  
"Allrighty. You can sleep in the easy chair in the living room. Bad back?" Mary asked.  
  
"No," he said, looking confused. Mary shrugged.  
  
"Unlucky guess, I suppose," she said. "Right. So, Gilderoy, I suppose you'll be wanting a bed. You can stay in the first floor guest room. Ginny and Hermione, you can sleep in my room if you want."  
  
"And Oliver, you, Ron, Harry and the twins can all shove yourselves into my room," Trevor said with a grimace. They nodded.  
  
"Snape, you can sleep in a sleeping bag in the den, and you, Draco, if you wish, can sleep on the sofa," Mary added.  
  
"And that's everyone," Trevor said.  
  
*-*-*  
  
At around six o'clock, Dad came home. Mom had gone out to the movies. After much explaining, Dad finally believed that the wizards in his house were not here to kill his children and his wife, not to mention him.  
  
"Dad, what's for dinner?" Trevor said as he and Ron jumped up and down on the couch.  
  
"One, we are getting hot dogs and crescent rolls, as I am going to the store as soon as I changed out of my work clothes. Two, do not jump on that sofa!" Dad said loudly from in the kitchen as he fed the fish.  
  
Trevor and Ron stepped off the sofa.  
  
Soon Dad was gone.  
  
Mary sat on the counter in the kitchen, swinging her feet and banging the cabinet doors. Neville, Percy and Oliver sat at the kitchen table. Oliver was leafing through Trevor's Foxtrot book and Percy was looking over his shoulder. Neville sat, staring at the wall.  
  
"So, you guys got girlfriends?" Mary said suddenly. As soon as she said it she blushed bright red.  
  
"I used to. We broke up though," Percy informed her.  
  
"Ah, tragedy," Mary said with a sigh. "Love sucks, huh? How 'bout you, Oliver?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Too bad. And Neville? How about you?" she asked.  
  
"You've got to be kidding," Neville said wistfully. "And that's a no," he added.  
  
"Wow, all of you have it rough," the girl said. She put her hand over her heart and looked sympathetic. "I know how you feel." There was silence.  
  
"Well then," Percy said, sounding semi-uncomfortable. Mary took a long drink of water. Oliver sat in silence. Neville picked at his fingernails  
  
"So," Mary said again. "Um, do you want to see my yearbook?" Three blank looks.  
  
"What's a yearbook?" Neville asked. Mary rolled her eyes.  
  
"I can't believe you've never heard of a yearbook!" she said, giving an exasperated sigh. "Well, a yearbook is pictures of everything that goes on in a school year. Including of each individual student."  
  
"I suppose that would be interesting," Percy mused. Mary hopped off of the counter.  
  
"Come on, then," she said, prompting them. They reluctantly stood up.  
  
Trevor and Ron had begun jumping on the sofa again, and Ginny had proceeded to join in.  
  
"Where are you going?" Trevor asked, stopping the hopping for a minute.  
  
"To my room, moron," Mary said, beginning to go down the stairs. Trevor stepped off of the couch.  
  
"With three guys?" he asked, an amused grin on his face. "Why you little piggy." He gave a suggestive cackle.  
  
"Bite me," Mary said and continued down the stairs. "I'm showing them my yearbook."  
  
"Sure ya are," Trevor yelled after them. Mary rolled her eyes again as the got to the bottom landing. She shoved aside the glow in the dark beaded curtain that served as her door.  
  
The four of them entered the room. Mary studied a large black box with assorted buttons on it. "It's a stereo," she said, not looking up. "It also plays music."  
  
She removed a little circle looking thing from a plastic box. "And THIS is a CD," she explained. "It has the music on it." She put it into the stereo somehow and pushed a button and waited patiently. The voice of an angry young man began shouting from the box.  
  
Immediately, Percy and Neville leapt back while Oliver looked uneasy. Percy coughed. "I, erm, wasn't expecting that," he said. Mary smiled and flicked on her lava lamp. It took her a few minutes to actually get the yearbook off of her bookshelf because she kept lighting candle and incense.  
  
"OK, sorry about that," she said. Suddenly there was a series of huge bangs. "Trevor!" Trevor burst through the curtains and sat down on the small white love seat in the corner. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Ohh, nothing," he said with a huge grin. Mary scowled.  
  
"You are supposed to know," she said loudly.  
  
"You don't have a door!" he snapped. Which was true. Mary seemed stuck on this one.  
  
"Well fine. You can stay but if I catch you going through my stuff, I'll kill you," she threatened. Trevor rolled his eyes. Mary fished around on her top shelf. "Ah ha, here it is," she said, pulling down a thin black book. She flopped onto her bed and fluffed up her pillow, cracking open the book.  
  
"Where are you?" Percy asked. Mary flicked a few pages.  
  
"Right there. Hope you don't go blind," she warned.  
  
"Hmmm. Drama club, art class," Oliver read. "Personal quote: 'I may never have made honor roll, but I'm not a moron.' This is how people will remember you?"  
  
"Yeah, yes it is," Mary said, staring off into space.  
  
"Yes, that's exactly how they'll remember her," Trevor added. "They were talking about it for days afterward."  
  
"They said it was inspired," she said, blinking. She took the book from Oliver. "Why don't I show you Trevor?"  
  
"Uh oh," Trevor said softly.  
  
"Here he is. Technology club. Science club," Neville said. "Personal Quote: 'If it were raining brains, you wouldn't even get wet'?"  
  
"Yup," Trevor said, beaming. "I was bored in English class and so I just thought of it. And when they asked me that's what I put."  
  
"He was hyper," Mary translated. "And here's my best friend."  
  
"She's pretty," Oliver said.  
  
"You'll have to meet her," she suggested. Mary sat on the bed. "This is my history teacher, and my science teacher, ooh, and my drama teacher." The song had changed to one of a guy yelling and loud guitars.  
  
"So, do you guys like Thanksgiving?" Trevor asked. They shrugged. "Because tomorrow is Thanksgiving, just FYI," he said quietly.  
  
"Yeah," Mary said dreamily. "It rocks. I mean, we'll go to our grandparents' house, and you can meet our cousins. And our grandparent's friends. And other stuff."  
  
"Turkey," Trevor said. He and his sister were practically drooling all over the place. Mary sat up rapidly.  
  
"Sorry. I was just thinking about it," Mary said vaguely. "I mean, I hate Thanksgiving. But I do like turkey."  
  
The door creaked open upstairs. The only way that they heard it over the music was that it was switching to another song.  
  
"Trevor! Did you break this sofa?" Dad yelled from the stairs. Mary and Trev exchanged glances and ran up the stairs. When the five teens got to the top of the stairs, Dad held a large bag. Inside were several packages of hot dogs, and several cans of crescent rolls.  
  
"Sorry you had to buy so much food," Mary said, staring at the floor.  
  
"Ah, it's okay. We get to eat for free tomorrow and the day after," Dad said. "And probably the day after that."  
  
"What do you mean?" Trevor asked.  
  
"Well, Thanksgiving, free. Day after, we're going to your cousin's house: also free. And after that: Leftovers from Grandma's: Free," he explained.  
  
"Wow. Two hours shoved into cars and driving for a long time just to be made fun of by your relatives," Mary said sarcastically.  
  
"Sweetie. That is what your cousins always do. It's just a given," Dad said, ruffling her hair. Mary frowned.  
  
*~*~*  
  
It was late. Mary and Trevor had put in the movie 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' to watch. Mary was covered up with a flannel blanket with a deer on it that she had brought up from her room and was quietly dozing on the sofa, drooling.  
  
Meanwhile, Trevor was signing along to the songs in an animated fashion. Oliver and Harry were trying to sing along even though they did not know the words. Lucius and Snape looked unpleasant. Gilderoy had gone to have his beauty sleep. Sirius had fallen asleep on Remus' shoulder, who was watching intently. Hermione had gone to read some of the books in Mary's room.  
  
Ginny and Percy was sitting on the floor watching also, looking confused but happy nonetheless. Fred and George were playing with Trevor's old-ish set of Army men and making them get attacked by the plastic Indians and cowboys, and Mary's plastic lizards. And Neville was asleep in the corner.  
  
Of course, Dad had gone to sleep, and so had Mom.  
  
Mary had her PJs on. Most people in the room were greatly amused by everyone who was asleep. Trevor blinked.  
  
"Maaaary," he crooned quietly, slipping on a plastic dog mask. Ginny snorted and put a hand over her mouth. "Wakey wakey, widdle Mary."  
  
Mary suddenly opened her eyes. "Aaaaaaughh!" she screamed, sitting up quickly. The movie ended just as Mary slapped Trevor. Trevor winced and swore, putting a hand on his cheek.  
  
Mary leapt off of the sofa. "I'm going to bed!" she snapped, dragging the blanket after her. Ginny gave Sirius, who was dying from laughter, a dirty look and followed Mary. As she went with Mary down to the basement, there was a huge slam.  
  
"She closes her door at night over her curtain," Trevor informed them. "So. We have quite a big day tomorrow, right? I mean, Dad called them to inform them you'd be there. And it's a good thing, too."  
  
"Trevor, does your sister do this frequently? I mean, get all upset?" Harry asked.  
  
Trevor though about this for a moment. "Um, well, Harry. She does get upset a lot, but you kinda caught her at a bad time. She is becoming obsessed with the idea that this pinhead she likes is obsessed with her best friend," he said with a shrug.  
  
Trevor looked a little embarrassed. "I shouldn't have told you that. But the other day, she told me never to fall in love with the girl who likes you's best friend with a sort of faraway look on her face."  
  
"Trevor, what do you usually do on Thanksgiving?" Sirius asked suddenly.  
  
Trevor grinned. "Well, you get there and the whole house smells like turkey. You, or at least I do, kick your shoes off and hang up your coat. My uncle Tommy and Paw-Paw are watching football. Alden, Austin and Mallory will run up to you and be like 'Oh wow, it's so good to see you.' Aunt Marleena and Grandma will be in the kitchen walking about and getting frustrated, since we're usually late. We sit down at the table as soon as possible and listen to Paw-Paw say Grace.  
  
"Then, we get to eat. We pass around all the food," he said, looking like he was about to drool all over. "And so when we get done, Mary sits with the adults while Austin, Alden, Dad and I go out to play football. And for the rest of the day, you recover from what you ate and debate over who said what at basic family events. Mary loves family stories. I'm never there because I'm a year younger than her. My mom still thinks I'm sheltered. But Mary fills me in on all of the disgusting details," Trev added.  
  
"Sounds fun," Fred said.  
  
"Ah, you'll think it is. At least until you get there," Trevor said sadly. "Too much family goodness."  
  
"You don't enjoy your family?" Remus said, blinking sleepily.  
  
"Oh, of course I do," Trevor grumbled. "It's just that there all, well, loons. And they always ask me about my grades! Oh, look at the time," he said, sounding upset. "It's late, even for me. I'm hitting the sack. Hey, if you want to sit up, then by all means. Seeya tomorrow." 


	2. Where Were You, When They Built The Ladd...

Operation: Random Chapter Two: Thanksgiving By Skye and Toad Rocket  
  
Disclaimer: We don't own anything mentioned in here. A/N: We hope you enjoyed the last chapter. It was quite long. Yeah.  
  
*~*~*  
  
It was 8 AM in the house. It was quiet. No one stirred. Well, except the three dogs, two fish, two birds, and Trevor's toad. Licorice the black miniature dachshund dozed quietly in Mary's bed while Erika, her mother, slept on Trevor's pillow. Her sister Snickerdoodle slept under a small, old robe belonging to Mom in Mom and Dad's bed.  
  
The two fish sat in large, clear vases on the kitchen table. Aberdeen, Mary's bird, was in a cage hanging from a large hook on the basement wall, aka in her room. PJ was in a cage on top of Trevor's dresser.  
  
The clock switched over to eight-oh-one. The whole house erupted into different sounds.  
  
In Mom and Dad's room, it was the sound of a radio DJ saying 'Happy Thanksgiving.' In Trevor's, it was the sound of Eminem screaming. And down in the basement, it was Mary's stereo, blasting 'Mrs. Robinson' by the Beatles.  
  
Mary groaned sleepily and held her pillow over her head. Trevor leapt onto his bed and began rapping along with his music. And Mom and Dad got up to get dressed.  
  
The dogs hopped out of bed, and the birds began chirping along to the music. The toad remained under his water dish.  
  
Hermione and Ginny leapt a foot into the air as the beginning of the song began. Feet pounded down the stairs. Trevor flung open the door. His hair stood straight up, and he was in a t-shirt and shorts. He jumped on Mary's sofa.  
  
"Wake up! Wake up!" he yelled. The springs on the old white couch creaked. Mary mumbled a curse and made a rude gesture at her brother.  
  
"Fine! I'm awake," she snapped.  
  
"That's all I wanted," Trevor said calmly, leaving the room.  
  
"Little brat tried to break my sofa," Mary grumbled, crawling out from underneath the heavy black blanket and the flannel sheets. Ginny gave an uneasy smile. Hermione blinked sleepily. "Ugh. I suppose I have to get up." She dragged herself from bed. She was obviously not a morning person.  
  
Clumsily she wobbled over to her stereo and switched the CD to some classical Mozart music. She gave a sleepy smile.  
  
"Oh yeah. You want some clothes, I'll betcha," Mary said. Her voice was hoarse. She sort of floated over to the large wardrobe next to her desk. "Ummm, lemme see what I have. Obviously, you won't really be able to wear your wizard robes, huh?"  
  
"Um, I'd guess not," Ginny said quietly. Mary fished a 'Pittsburgh State' t- shirt, black turtleneck and flared blue jeans out of her dresser.  
  
"Those are for me," she explained, carelessly tossing them onto the bed. "Ginny, do you like skirts?"  
  
"Well, yes, I'd say so," Ginny said. Mary thought for a moment and then opened her sock drawer. She pulled out a half-length black skirt.  
  
"Here ya go. I bought this once and I never wore it. And I don't plan on it either. You can keep it," she said, wiping at her eye. She also handed Ginny a white blouse. "Merry Christmas." Ginny went into the downstairs bathroom to change.  
  
"OK, what should I wear?" Hermione asked. "I don't really like skirts."  
  
"Whoa, same here," Mary said with a grin. "Hermione, I can see you have great and interesting tastes."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Sure! So that's why I am going to give you my black jeans and this shirt," Mary said, holding up a t-shirt, which was tie-dyed and said 'Save a Tree' on it. "Hope ya like it. It's one of my favorites."  
  
"Ooh, I do," Hermione said. Mary smiled happily. "Well, I guess I'm going upstairs to change."  
  
"OK. Seeya later." Mary changed quickly and ran up the stairs.  
  
Mom was pouring herself a quick cup of coffee before they had to leave. Oliver was standing on the landing.  
  
"Morning," he said.  
  
"Good morning," she greeted. "Didja sleep well? Trevor's room was OK?"  
  
"Yes, yes, it was, but up until that music began swearing at me. Did you know he lets that play all night? He says it helps him sleep."  
  
"Oh yeah. He always has. I trust it kept you up?"  
  
"Yeah. Actually it did," he said with a chuckle.  
  
"And he gave you some of his clothes, I see?" Mary gestured to the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' t-shirt Oliver wore.  
  
"Yes, but I don't really know what that means," he said, pointing to his chest and the name of the TV show printed on it.  
  
"Well, it's a TV show," she tried to explain.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Yeah. Well, I'm going to get me some breakfast." She opened the freezer and took out an ice cream sandwich. Just then, Lucius Malfoy stormed down the stairs.  
  
"What in the world is the matter with the shower?" he cried. He was wearing a fuzzy blue robe and a shower cap. "I turn it on and I get scalded. I try to turn the heat down and I get pelted with freezing cold water."  
  
"Erm," Mom said from in the kitchen. "It might be because you're turning the thingy the wrong way. Ours turns a lot more if you aren't careful."  
  
"Fine," Mr. Malfoy spat and stormed back to his shower.  
  
"Mary, honey," Mom said. "Don't eat that. We're going to eat soon anyway."  
  
"Gotta keep up nutrient levels, Mom," Mary informed her. "Remember, in health, I learned the basic food groups: chocolate, cake, ice cream, candy, gum and soda."  
  
"Fine. As long as you remember to brush your teeth."  
  
"Score. Sure thing Mom," Mary said. Oliver was beginning to get the feeling that this was a semi-relaxed atmosphere.  
  
"Oliver, sweetie," Mom began. "Would you like some normal breakfast food?" She shot Mary a telling look when she said 'normal breakfast food.' "We have toaster waffles."  
  
"Um, yes ma'am. That sounds good." Mary shrugged and went down the hall to find her brother.  
  
"Hey," she said, entering his room. Trevor was handing Ron and Harry each a pair of cargo pants and Old Navy shirts.  
  
"Hey sis," he said. "I was just helpin' out our buddies. They seem to be in need of some clothes."  
  
"So I see," Mary acknowledged. "Um, I think you best hurry. We're leaving soon and although Mom has time to make Oliver some Eggo-ness, then we have to hurry? It doesn't make sense."  
  
"You're just upset because she yelled at you for eating ice cream," he replied. And it was the truth. Mary shrugged. She bit of a chunk of the sugary treat.  
  
"Hey, in Home Living we learned that -gasp- it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you eat," Mary snapped.  
  
"Yes, well. You only paid attention because of the cookies you all made," Trev reminded her. She shrugged.  
  
"At least I paid attention."  
  
"That is true," Trev mused. "Besides. I only pay attention in homeroom because I am usually up doing my homework. It's pointless. Not to mention boring." Trevor really did not like school.  
  
"Waste of ten minutes," Mary agreed. "We could be playing truth or dare."  
  
"What?" Trevor yelped. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Mary shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"Well. I just wanted to say hello. And tell you to get ready right now," she added. Trevor scowled.  
  
"Did mom say that? Huh?" he said.  
  
"Sheesh. Too many questions," Mary said. "Yes. She did say that."  
  
"Oh. OK." Trev turned to Ron and Harry. "Sometimes, Mary lies." Mary turned even paler than usual, and then she blushed.  
  
"See. Mom thinks that stories are cries for attention. Apparently no one in this family trusts me or cares to believe me." She shot a look at Trevor. "Anywho, I'm gonna go down the hall. To feed the fish."  
  
"I don't know how you can stand her sometimes," Ron said to Trevor.  
  
"Ron!" Harry scolded. "It's early. She's had lots of stress." Trev raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Obviously you're new to this game, Potter," Trev sighed. He switched off his radio, grabbed some clothing, and left the room.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Lucius had had no desire to partake in such a Muggle tradition. Lockhart was looking forward to staring at his reflection in the mirror. When the two had snapped to Mom that they were staying home, Mom looked crestfallen. It wasn't until Snape added that he, too, was not a 'Thanksgiving-y sort of dude' (as Trevor would say) that she let it go to her head.  
  
"What if they don't like us?" she asked Mary as the two covered the pan of cake with plastic wrap. Mary rolled her eyes.  
  
"Who cares?"  
  
Mom sighed. "Sweetie, it's always good to know what people think of you." Mary frowned.  
  
"Mom, I love you. But that statement makes you seem very insecure," she said seriously. Mom rolled her eyes.  
  
"Sometimes I wonder if so much sarcasm is bad for your system, Mary Jane," Mom said. Mary blushed at hearing her middle name used.  
  
"Leave it to you to accidentally name me after a drug," Mary sighed.  
  
"You know perfectly well: your Grandmother's middle name is Jane. And my mother's first name was Mary. Mary Jane," Mom explained. Mary sighed.  
  
"This is an odd conversation." A pause.  
  
"Yes. It really is," Mom said with a laugh, sealing the plastic over the cake. Mary sighed and picked up the tray. She carried it into the living room.  
  
Dad sat with Erika in his lap, watching a football game. Sirius and the Weasley twins (Fred and George, were those their names?) sat, watching with interest. Mom came into the room behind her with an enormous bowl of salad.  
  
"Trevor!" she yelled. Mary jumped a foot into the air.  
  
"What?" Trevor shouted back.  
  
"Come on!"  
  
"I can't find my shoe!"  
  
"It's right here," Mary said loudly. Oliver emerged from the dining room, Ron and Harry behind him. Remus stumbled down the stairs, and Ginny and Hermione walked up from Mary's room.  
  
Soon everyone had gathered on the landing.  
  
"Let's go," Mom sighed.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Trevor was shoved into the back seat of the van, between Ginny and Neville. He crossed his arms. He was NOT having fun.  
  
Mary sat in the front seat of the van. Mom was driving. In the captain's chairs were Sirius and Remus. Sitting on the floor were Oliver and Percy. Yes. It was illegal.  
  
In Dad's car, Dad drove, the Weasley twins and Harry sat in the backseat, and Ron sat in the front in the middle. Hermione sat next to Ron.  
  
No. It wasn't fun. Not in the least. Trevor was beginning to think he was a claustrophobic.  
  
Mary sighed. She flicked on the radio.  
  
"Do we have to listen to oldies?" Trevor piped up. Mary turned around as the beginning strains of a song played.  
  
"Yes!" Mary said dramatically. "Music these days is nothing but sex, violence, drugs, and did I mention sex?" She clapped her hands as she heard the song that was playing. "I love this song." It was 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' by Marvin Gaye.  
  
"We know," Mom and Trev choused. Mary blushed.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
The aroma of turkey wafted through the air. Ginny gulped and straightened her skirt as she followed Ron and Harry up to the blue front door of the large yellow house. The door was open, and Mary was motioning for them all to come inside.  
  
Ginny sighed and walked through the door, Trevor at her side. Immediately, the room erupted into noise.  
  
"Trevor!" two boys yelled.  
  
"Hey Alden, hey, Austin," he replied to his cousins. Ginny stood awkwardly by the coat rack. "Guys, this is Ginny."  
  
"Since when did you get a girlfriend?" Alden said, enunciating the 'girl' part. Trevor's face flushed.  
  
"She's not my girlfriend. She's a wizard. Your mom must've told you, right?"  
  
"Ohh yeah," Austin said. "That is something she said. And she clearly said something about not teasing Mary this year."  
  
"You tease your sister?" Oliver asked Trevor.  
  
"Oh, of course not!" Trevor said, winking. "Just because last year, we." His voice trailed off.  
  
"Told her that the dog got outside and then when she went to check, locked her out of the house!" Alden said with a snigger. Mary caught sight of the four of them (Oliver, Trevor, Alden and Austin) laughing like maniacs. She gave Trev a pissed-off look.  
  
"Yeah, well. She got back at us though," Austin recalled. "By hiding our remote-controlled cars in the bathroom."  
  
"Remote controlled-what?" Oliver was confused.  
  
"Hmm? Oh, go ask Mary," Trevor sighed. He rolled his eyes. Ginny still stood around as if not knowing what to say or do. Oliver walked away.  
  
"So." Austin was not a man of many words at times.  
  
"Yeah. Oh. Let's go watch TV. Wanna come, Ginny?" Trev asked. Ginny blushed.  
  
"I guess so," she responded. Austin ran down the flight of stairs near the door. Trevor sat on the stairs and slid down them. Alden rolled down the flight, making loud thunking noises and landing in a laughing heap at the bottom the stairs. As for Ginny, she just walked down into the dark room below. This was how all kids in this odd family unit acted.  
  
Fred and George hurried down the stairs. It wasn't surprising to Ginny how they would just storm down a random flight of stairs in someone else's home. They stormed through passages in Hogwarts all the time.  
  
"Let's see what's on," Trevor said, pressing buttons on a wide, flat, strange looking wand. They had one at his house too. He called it a 'remote control.' It turned on the 'TV.' Ginny and her brothers had heard of it from their father. He loved Muggles and the objects they used.  
  
The TV flashed on with a small popping noise. Ginny felt her heart leap into her throat. Even though it wasn't the first time she had seen the 'TV', it was still odd to see Trevor and Mary and their family using it so frequently. Her father had gotten one from work once, but her mother hated the noises it made and ordered Arthur to take it back.  
  
"Ho hum," Alden said, flopping onto the large rocking chair. Austin fell awkwardly onto the rug. Trev sat down at the opposite end of the couch from Ginny.  
  
There was a huge thud over their heads, which was in the kitchen.  
  
"Mother!" someone yelled. Trevor rolled his eyes, mouthing the word 'Mary.'  
  
"You're not hurt. Get up," Mom snapped back.  
  
"What the heck was that all about?" Fred asked. Trevor sighed and rolled his eyes.  
  
"Well, Dad has this thing where he likes to sort of, you know, push Mary along. Mary is not very good at balance and stuff, so usually she just falls down," Trev said. "And Mom laughs at her. Every single time. And Mary hates getting laughed at. So she gets mad."  
  
"Oh," George said dumbly. Austin blinked at the TV, which prominently featured a boy in a red coat and blue-and-yellow skiing hat. Cartman was his name, as Alden explained.  
  
It was a show called South Park, about little boys with foul mouths. Parents hated it and banned their children from watching it. That was why the volume was turned sort of low, which was why you were not allowed to talk during the show.  
  
"Screw you guys! I'm goin' home!" Cartman shouted on the screen. Fred, George, Austin, Alden and Trevor doubled over in laughter. Ginny cracked a small grin.  
  
"Fine!" the boy named Stan yelled back and called Cartman a foul name. They were all rolling now.  
  
There was just so much to learn in the Muggle world, Ginny thought with a smile.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Oliver," Mary hissed at him. "Put that down!" Oliver and Harry were playing with a glass, dog-shaped cracker holder while Ron stole small pieces of lettuce out of the salad. "Ron. Don't eat the salad."  
  
"You're just mad that you fell down," Harry said. Mary's pale face flushed.  
  
"Now. That may be true," she confessed, instructing Ron to carry the salad into the dining room. The adults and Mallory, Mary, Ron, Harry, Oliver, Draco, Neville, Percy, Remus and Sirius were all going to shove into the large dining room around the large table to eat a heaping meal.  
  
Everyone else's food was in the kitchen, waiting for them to get it. Mary took her seat, between Percy and Mallory. Percy eyed the noodles in a large silver pot on the table.  
  
"What are those?" he asked Mary in a whisper. He didn't want to insult the aunt who had cooked them.  
  
"Noodles. A family tradition. Try some," she urged just as quietly. Percy shrugged and reached for the serving spoon in the pot. With lightning fast reflexes, Mary snatched his hand away from the pot and put it back into his lap. She blushed and patted his hand.  
  
"What was that about?" he questioned in a whisper.  
  
"We have to say Grace first. It's a big deal," she added. "And if my Grandma cries, don't be alarmed."  
  
"I'll keep that in mind," he acknowledged. PawPaw, who he knew was Mary's grandfather, sat down at the table. Everyone was now ready.  
  
"Let's say Grace," he said in a frustrated tone. "Um, Karen, since you did such a good job last year, how about this year?" Mom blushed a little.  
  
"OK, Dad. Let me see." A pause. "Um, God bless this food which we will consume for the nourishment of our bodies. Also bless those who cannot be with us, whether it be from travel inconvenience or, well, death."  
  
Mary and Percy exchanged a puzzled glance.  
  
"We've lost a wonderful lady this year. And we know you're taking good care of her. Some of us, like Mary, have had a difficult year, but we know you've been with us each step of the way."  
  
Mary's eyes bugged so far out of her head that Percy was afraid they'd roll out and fall into her glass of grapefruit juice.  
  
"Bless this food and this family. Amen," Mom concluded.  
  
"Amen," everyone, except Mary and Percy, repeated. Mary looked like she had just been told the moon really was made of cheese. Her face was bright red. Percy didn't know what to say.  
  
"Please excuse me for a moment," Mary said, standing up and hurrying to the restroom. She didn't see Percy and Oliver following her. She walked into the bathroom and splashed icy cold water into her face, glaring at the mirror.  
  
"Ask her never to mention it and she does it anyways," Mary grumbled to Oliver and Percy, noticing their reflection in the mirror.  
  
"What?" Oliver asked. Percy nudged him with his elbow. Mary motioned for them to join her in the bathroom. She shut and locked the door.  
  
"Oh. Nothing major. I just had the worst frickin' teacher ever for sewing. She insulted me. No big deal. That and the fact that I've just been all 'Bleaugh' about everything," Mary said softly.  
  
"Are you okay?" Percy asked.  
  
"Um. Yes," she informed them after a minute of pushing hair out of her face. "Please, please, please, guys. Don't tell anyone that I talked about it with you. I don't even talk about this crap with Trev. Although I'm perfectly fine." She sighed. "I'm going to eat now."  
  
She hurried from the room, leaving Oliver and Percy to stand, stunned for a minute, before joining her.  
  
"Sorry," they could hear her saying. "I must have gotten some dust in my eye or something."  
  
"No problem," Dad said as Oliver and Percy sat down.  
  
"Dear, would you like some turkey?" Grandma asked Neville. Neville looked downright nervous.  
  
"Umm. Sure?" he responded, but it came out more as a question.  
  
"Light or dark meat?"  
  
"I don't really care," Neville stammered.  
  
"Make up your mind, boy!" PawPaw urged in a loud, joking tone. Unfortunately, Neville didn't take this as the joke that it was meant to be. He blinked and shivered. Ron and Harry exchanged a glance. The whole table stared at Neville.  
  
"Light," he finally said, sounding world-weary. Grandma scooped several medium-seized pieces of turkey onto his plate. He collapsed into his chair, looking humiliated.  
  
"Aww. It's OK," Aunt Marleena said. Neville blushed. Mary lowered her gaze to the platter of mashed potatoes. She put some onto her plate and passed it to Mallory. Percy handed her the bowl of corn, which she put on top of her potatoes.  
  
"Ah. Just like her father," Grandma said. Mary stopped from putting a seemingly large amount of turkey onto her plate and smiled at Grandma.  
  
"Why?" Ron asked suddenly.  
  
"Corn on top of mashed potatoes," Uncle Tommy said. "She's done that since she was a little kid. Just like her dad."  
  
"Um. Yes." Mary seemed like she just wanted to change the subject.  
  
"Oh, Karen. You know what I was thinking about the other day?" Tommy asked.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"That time we went to Ponderosa and Dad was trying to laugh really quiet and ended up going 'HA' really loud," he replied. PawPaw, Grandma, Mom, Dad, Tommy, Marleena and Mallory doubled over in laughter. Mary smiled a large grin. Oliver and Percy smirked. Ron and Harry also laughed at this. The whole table laughed enthusiastically. And at what?  
  
Ah ha. Another one of those stupid-unless-you-know-the-family stories. Mmhmm. It was absolutely one of those, no question about it.  
  
"So, um, Kurt, how's work going?" PawPaw asked.  
  
"Fine, just fine," he said, eating a piece of the regular stuffing. He hated sea food. Mary coughed and picked up a small piece of her light turkey. Percy watched as she fed the meat to the large golden retriever who was flopped lazily underneath the table.  
  
"I heard about your school, Mary," Aunt Marleena said. Mary chewed and nodded. "I'll bet that was just awful."  
  
"Well, it wasn't that bad. I mean, it was, um, semi-upsetting while it was happening, but, uh, looking back it wasn't terrible," Mary informed the table.  
  
"What was going through your head?" Oliver asked suddenly.  
  
"Oh. Well, in truth, I was kind of upset and a little skittish. It was sort of like 'I hope I can get to my locker and get out in time.' I didn't want to lose my CD player but at the same time I needed to catch up to my friends. It was in fifth hour, and so a lot of people who ride our bus weren't there," Mary recalled, looking down at her plate. There was silence.  
  
"So our teacher was yellin' and screamin', and if we might not have gotten almost sucked into the ground, it mighta been sorta funny, you know?" Mary asked rhetorically. "I followed my best friend, Willa, outta the class and we went to our lockers, grabbin' our stuff. I found Trev and so, we just left. It wasn't so bad."  
  
"It sounds awful," Remus spoke up.  
  
"Nope. Seriously. It wasn't so bad. Other people might tell you it was just positively awful," Mary stated dramatically. "But it really wasn't." She paused, as if desperately searching for a new topic.  
  
Luckily she didn't have to say anything. Trev emerged from the kitchen, just as an excruciatingly loud man sang out the words "Where were you, when they built the ladder to heaven?"  
  
Trevor paled visibly, as downstairs, Fred, George, Alden and Austin collapsed in fits of giggles. "Excuse, you fine ladies and gentlemen," Trev said in a rambling tone and ran down the stairs.  
  
"Guys, I'll be right back," Mary said, attempting to get up.  
  
"Sit down and finish your dinner," Dad ordered with a mouth full of turkey.  
  
"OK. Grandma, these are lovely potatoes," Mary complimented.  
  
"Oh, well thank you." Mary beamed. "So, Karen, these wizards in your house. How did they get there?"  
  
"Well, Trev told me that they just appeared somehow," Mom informed her, her tone thoughtful. "Actually, I'm not sure." Well, at least she was being honest.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
It was much more fun downstairs. There was, for some reason, a South Park marathon. Fred and Alden were playing pool on PawPaw and Grandma's small pool table. Ginny was playing with a deck of cards. Austin was drawing a picture on a writing tablet, and Trev was leafing through a mystery novel. George was watching South Park intently.  
  
Somehow it remained quiet enough to hear the voice of Cartman, Stan, Kyle, Butters, and all the other South Park citizens. Suddenly Mary hurried down the stairs, looking distressed.  
  
"What in the world was that?" she hissed quietly.  
  
"What was what?" Trevor asked innocently. Mary practically exploded in fury.  
  
"'Where were you, when they built the ladder to heaven?' Man! You should've seen Mom's face! She was so confused!" She doubled over in laughter.  
  
"How's dinner going?" Alden asked as he smacked the 'three' ball into a corner pocket.  
  
"Awful. I'm being inquizitized left and right!" she moaned in horror. "Listen. I gotta go. I told Mom and them all that I needed to check up on you." She headed for the stairs. "Have fun."  
  
"Will do," Austin assured her, not looking up.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"So. How were they doing?" Grandma asked. Mary pasted on a smile.  
  
"Just fiiiiine," she said.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Who wants to play football?" Dad announced in a crooning tone, walking slowly down the stairs. The TV was switched off. The six teens were sitting on the floor, engaged in a peaceful game of Monopoly. Austin, Alden and Trevor yelled that they would.  
  
"How about you, Fred-and-George?" Trev asked. "Ya up for it?"  
  
"Are we ever," George said. Which obviously meant yes. Ginny shook her head and walked upstairs. Dad and the kids followed her.  
  
"What about you, Oliver?" Fred asked.  
  
"Do you want to play football?" George asked. Oliver shrugged.  
  
"I suppose so."  
  
"What about you, Monkeyshines?" Dad questioned to Mary.  
  
"Daddy!" she said with a laugh. She thought for a moment. "Sure," she accepted. Soon, Remus, Sirius, Harry and Ron had also accepted the offer, along with Uncle Tommy. Percy and Neville were reluctantly forced into playing along. Finally, to round things out, PawPaw finished doing the dishes, and so he to joined in.  
  
The teams were split up as soon as the large group reached the cul-de-sac. The 'Silver' team (as christened by Austin) contained Trevor, Alden, Austin, Neville, Dad, Ron, Sirius and George. The 'Evil Gecko' team (as christened by Mary) contained Uncle Tommy, Percy, PawPaw, Oliver, Mary, Fred, Remus and Harry.  
  
Austin produced a nickel from his pocket and handed it to Dad. He flipped it as Oliver and Trev faced off.  
  
"Heads!" Trevor yelled at the top of his lungs as Oliver stood on it confusion. Dad sighed and picked up the small silver coin.  
  
"It is heads," he informed the small crowd in a dramatic tone. The Silver team cheered. The Evil Gecko team cringed.  
  
Soon the ball was thrown. Trevor caught it and faked a pass to George, who laughed. Trev hurled it to Neville. He tried to catch it, but was knocked roughly to the concrete, resulting in a large scrape down his elbow. His face contorted in pain.  
  
"Trevor!" Mary scolded. "Look what your idiotic fake pass did!" She knelt next to the boy lying on the ground. Neville was whimpering, and Austin, Alden and Trev fought viciously to not laugh.  
  
"Come on, Mary. Why don't you take this dollar and buy a sense of humor?" Austin asked seriously. Alden and Trevor doubled over in laughter.  
  
"Shut up!" Mary snapped. "Come on, Neville," she sighed. "We'll get ya fixed up."  
  
"Are you coming back?" Dad yelled after her.  
  
"Yes," she shouted back, not turning around and keeping a firm grip on Neville's arm. "You'll have to excuse my brother and cousins. And the rest of my family, as a matter of fact. They all seem to be insane," she muttered.  
  
"Ah, it's ok. Not the first time I've been laughed at," Neville said with a sigh. "Or the first time I've fallen down."  
  
"Ohh. I'm sorry," she consoled. "Maybe we should start a club." Mary giggled.  
  
"Yeah," Neville agreed with a smile. She led him through the garage, and not letting go of his elbow (the non-hurt one), walked up three stairs, opened the door, walked through the laundry room, down a small hall and finally into the living room.  
  
"Grandma? Do you still have BandAids?" Mary asked Grandma, who was sitting on the sofa with Marleena, Mallory and Mom were watching a movie, along with Draco, Hermione and Ginny.  
  
"Holy crap!" Mom said loudly. She coughed. "I mean, hmm, what happened?"  
  
"Trev faked a pass to George and threw it to poor Neville here, who fell down and scraped his arm," Mary informed her.  
  
"They're under the sink in the bathroom," Grandma said.  
  
"Thanks." And so Mary and Neville walked to the bathroom, where she instructed the boy to sit on the sink. She retrieved a little blue semi- transparent box and opened it up.  
  
"Here, hon, lemme see your arm," she muttered. Mary pulled a little glass bottle and a cotton ball out of the box.  
  
"Um, what's that?" Neville asked. Mary gave an embarrassed smile.  
  
"I don't exactly know, to be honest, but Grandma always used to use it on my many cuts and scrapes and the like when I was little," she recalled, spilling a little onto the little cotton piece and dabbed it onto the wound on his arm.  
  
It felt like fire on his skin. His eyes grew as wide as dinner plates. Mary closed her eyes in shame.  
  
"Oh lord. I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I forgot, I forgot, I forgot! That's the crap that I would cry when they used!"  
  
Neville gritted his teeth and turned his eyes to the floor.  
  
"You know, Neville," Mary said. "You can yell if you want or whatever. They're all watching 'Bye Bye Birdie.' You can't distract them from that movie if you were to drive a train through the kitchen."  
  
Neville whimpered. "Gosh that hurts," he forced out between gritted teeth. Mary ruffled his hair.  
  
"It's okay. I am here for you," Mary comforted solemnly. He smiled at her. "OK. That's done." She wiped away some of the blood with a Kleenex and put a large patchy-like bandage on his elbow. "There ya go, chief. Now, let's go whoop Trevor's sorry behind." Neville laughed.  
  
"Sounds good to me," he agreed.  
  
And so they made their way back to the game, where the Silver team was absolutely maiming the Evil Gecko team.  
  
"Hey," Oliver greeted.  
  
"Hey dude," Mary replied. "How come we're losing?"  
  
"Because your brother and cousins are pretty good," he explained regrettably.  
  
"They aren't that good," Mary said with a sigh.  
  
"Catch!" Uncle Tommy yelled to Mary, hurling the ball to his niece. Mary squealed and caught the ball, running as fast as possible towards the designated spot where she would score, screaming 'You'll never take me alive!' and holding onto the pigskin with a kung-fu grip. She reached the line and gave the whole group (of all guys) a very satisfied smirk.  
  
"Hmm, how did that happen?" she said innocently. Trevor grumbled and folded his arms while muttering a few well chosen swears.  
  
~*~*~  
  
The second part of Thanksgiving will be posted.as soon as we get it done.  
  
Seeya Later, Alligator,  
  
Toad and Skye Rocket 


	3. Startling News on the Home Front

Operation: Random A Fanfic by Skye and Toad Rocket  
  
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all things Harry Potter. We own nothing. We're just two bored brother-and-sister teens, with too much free time and not enough to do to keep us occupied. Now, do you REALLY think we own this? Nah. I bet you don't. I mean, you're smarter than that, right?  
  
*~*~*  
  
Trevor was having a tough time at football. He had jammed his finger and nearly been smashed to death by Oliver Wood and one of the Weasley twins when he had faked yet another pass. They had just leapt upon him like he was a friggin' trampoline, and this was not a good sign. If he wasn't careful, his team would lose, and lose badly. He could not have his sister gloating for the rest of the week, or longer.  
  
This he could not accept. He could not lose! This was of dire importance. Besides, the teams were tied, and Mary looked like she was positively gloating. His grandfather was exuberant. Oliver looked bewildered, yet smug. The whole Evil Gecko team was thrilled with their miraculous comeback. This was bothering him. A LOT.  
  
But it wasn't that they were winning. It was the fact that he could hear his sister's voice in his head saying, in a voice saturated in drippy, tooth-rotting sweetness, 'Good game, Porkchop. To bad you sucked.' His blood boiled in his veins. And boy, was Trevor getting pissed.  
  
"Hey, Trev, catch!" Austin yelled, bringing him back to reality. He raised his arms, and a split second later the rough material of the ball was in his hands. Unconsciously Trevor began running down the 'field.' In his mind, the event switched over from being a 'friendly' game of Thanksgiving football to the Super Bowl.  
  
He could hear the crowd cheering, or so he thought. He crossed over the imaginary line on the cement of the road, but in Trevor's head, it was lush green grass. Trevor raised his head to the sky, blew a kiss to the crowd watching, extended his arm to the sky, and did the Victory Dance.  
  
Mary, Oliver, Neville, Ron, Harry and all the rest gaped at Trevor. Mary's stunned gaze turned into a bemused grin. She cleared her throat as her brother continued to play to a non-existent audience. Dad stepped forward to make him stop, but Mary insisted not to.  
  
"Wait, wait, wait," she said quickly. "Let's watch. Then we can tell him how dumb he looked." Austin and Alden bobbed their heads like a plastic dog you put on your car dashboard.  
  
This tirade continued for another few minutes, before Mary finally tired of her brother's slap-happy display. She approached her sibling and clapped a heavy hand onto his shoulder as he danced. "Hey, Poindexter!" she said loudly. " This is not a real game. Get a life!" The dancing boy stilled immediately.  
  
"Uh, sorry," he said. "I lost my mind."  
  
"I'll say," Alden muttered.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The Silver team made a horrifyingly grand comeback, and everyone was now gathered in the living room. The three boys, Ginny, Fred and George sat in a circle, and Mary was flopped onto a sofa, Oliver, Ron, Draco and Neville in the same fashion around the room in chairs and on the floor.  
  
Grandma cleared her throat, and PawPaw handed everyone an envelope, even the wizards in attendance at the event. Mary passed Oliver and Neville each a stick of gum with a small flick of the wrist as she received her envelope. It was heavy and thick.  
  
"Don't open it until everyone gets an envelope," Grandma instructed. Trevor rolled his eyes to Ginny. Alden and Austin were getting impatient, trying to open the envelope without anyone noticing. Unfortunately for them, Marleena did.  
  
Soon, everyone had an envelope, and PawPaw told everyone to open his or her envelope. Trevor looked at the first piece of paper in the envelope, which displayed a photocopied lottery ticket. Next there was a receipt from American Airlines, for loads of coach passages to Orlando.  
  
"What is this?" he asked loudly and, if he had to admit to it, obnoxiously. PawPaw stood up in the front of the room.  
  
"It means that your grandmother and I won fifty thousand dollars in the state lottery!" he exclaimed. "And we're going to Disney World!"  
  
"When?" Mary asked in a numb state of disbelief.  
  
"Tomorrow!" Grandma yelled, throwing her arms around her granddaughter, who was now sitting up, alert, on the sofa. Mary looked stricken and very confused. Trevor, Alden and Austin began jumping up and down, and the whole room was just a mess of talking, yelling, and Grandma happily crying her little eyes out. Mary, meanwhile, was stunned and grinning and hugging Oliver and then Neville and even Percy and she was just going berserk.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Soon the family was home. Uncle Tommy and Aunt Marleena had spent the night (with their kids of course) at Grandma's the night before. They had had to make a trip to the local Wal-Mart to buy all the supplies they would need for the seven-day trip.  
  
Mary was in her room shoving her entire wardrobe into one large and two small suitcases in order to share them with Hermione and Ginny, as Trevor did that same. It was a good thing he had more clothes than Mary did, as so many guys were going on the trip.  
  
Whilst Dad was packing his and Mom's clothes (not as many of Mom's, though), Mom was talking to Snape, Lockhart and Mr. Malfoy about what they had missed. Snape was reluctant to come, and Lucius was even worse. Only Lockhart expressed any excitement over this.  
  
"Hmm. Muggle amusement area? With a life-size mouse! Very curious. Very curious indeed!" Lockhart enthused.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The alarm went off again at four thirteen AM. Mary sat up as fast as possible, not thinking.  
  
"What the heck was that!" she shouted, leaping out of bed. Hermione and Ginny got out of their sleeping bags, Hermione's on the old white sofa and Ginny's on the futon, as fast as was humanly possible.  
  
Mary threw Ginny a pair of ripped jeans and a Rainbow Brite (whatever that was, Ginny thought) t-shirt, and Hermione a baggy pair of black jeans and a yellow peasant blouse. She grabbed for herself one of three pairs of unpacked flip-flops, camouflage cargo pants and a black Save the Rainforest t-shirt, slapping over her arm a Weezer hooded sweatshirt and running up the stairs to go get changed.  
  
Meanwhile, upstairs, it was obvious that Mary should have been up at four AM sharp. Mom was in her maroon turtleneck and black pants, fastening on a pair of earrings. Trevor and Dad were already lugging out suitcase after suitcase. Draco and Ron were blinking tiredly at bowls of cereal. After Mary was dressed, Oliver confronted her. He was in green corduroys and a white sleeveless shirt. In spite of her tired brain, Mary found him to be a bit on the studly side at this early hour.  
  
"Hey. Love the pants," she said. "I gave those to Trev for his birthday from the Salvation Army." She was sort of babbling.  
  
"Good taste," he said. Mary nodded sleepily.  
  
"I'm going to get some hazelnut java in a travel mug ready. Want me to make ya some?" Oliver shrugged.  
  
"Sure, I'll try some. I guess," he said. When Mary was done, she slapped the two mugs, and, as an after thought, her mother's hazelnut CoffeeMate, into Mom's bag. Dad entered the house.  
  
"We're ready to go!" he yelled to the house. They all flooded out to the van and car, with the same seating as the day before.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"So, Mom, how did Grandma get our guests flights?" Trevor piped up from the backseat over the blasting of Runaway by Linkin Park. He had insisted on playing it, rather than listening to 'Love Potion Number Nine,' as was Mary's intention, never mind that they had heard it four times already that morning.  
  
Mary's Army backpack was full of notebooks and her oldies CDs. Trevor wanted to throw the backpack out into the highway rather than hear 'California Dreamin'' one more time. He had a headache from hearing 'Society's Child' for the second time. And in his nightmares he would hear 'She Loves You' (he could hear those yeah, yeah, yeah's right then in his brain) for many years to come after the seventh sampling.  
  
Yes, indeed. Many things would be different because of those songs.  
  
"Well, as soon as I explained the situation to your grandmother, she told PawPaw, who called their superb travel agent. Isn't that lovely?" she chirped. Mary nodded sleepily. "Sweetie, you can take a nap," Mom said cautiously.  
  
To her surprise, Mary said, "Good idea. Wake me when we get there." She leaned her head on the cold window glass and began to snore. Loudly.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Mary?" Oliver asked, standing over Mary. Mary snapped awake, sitting up quickly.  
  
"Oh, hey, Oliver. Are we there?"  
  
"Yeah. Your parents are checking bags with everyone." Mary hopped out of the car.  
  
"Friggit! Where'd my Army bag go?" she snapped to no one in particular. Oliver edged away and handed it to her. "Oh, thank you, dear." She slung it roughly over her shoulder, grabbing his hand and hurrying to the bag checking. The plane was going to be boarding pretty soon, said the ticket.  
  
Trevor was animatedly talking to Alden and Austin. Mom and Dad were handing various pieces of paper to a tired looking woman, as were Tommy and Marleena, and Grandma and PawPaw. Remus was whispering to Sirius, and Harry, Ron, Fred, George and Draco sat around on the uncomfy airport seats, only half-awake.  
  
"Mom, I'm going to get a magazine," Mary said, winking at Oliver. This meant 'candy.' He followed her into the magazine store, where she grabbed a copy of 'Mad Magazine,' and also a bag of Jolly Ranchers, three Hershey bars (two plain, one almond) and three rolls of Sweet Tarts. Oliver looked at her oddly. She sighed.  
  
"What kind do you want?" Mary asked, gesturing to the racks of candy. Oliver looked for a minute and finally took a bag of gummi bears and some Lemon Heads. "Lemon Heads and Gummi Bears. Interesting choice," she analyzed slowly. "Let's go. We're going to be late and miss our plane and have to live in the airport for a week until everyone gets back."  
  
She paid for the candy and put it all into the backpack and hurried to catch up with her family. The plane was almost finished boarding, and soon they were passing through the metal detector. As soon as Neville passed halfway through the detector, there was a huge screeching noise. Neville looked like he might just fall down dead right then and there.  
  
"Move aside, sir," the attendant said, and began waving the wand over Neville. When it moved over the belt he was wearing, it sounded off loudly. Trevor, Alden and Austin were practically rolling with laughter. It wasn't that they hated Neville; it was just that he was the one who had wanted the belt. Mary scowled.  
  
"Trevor, cool it," she warned him edgily. She stormed through the detector and slapped her bag onto the 'x-ray thingy' and grabbed it as soon as it was done going through.  
  
Soon, in the plane, Mary was shoved next to the window, sitting next to a petrified Oliver and a smug-looking Draco. Draco was nibbling at a small bag of M and M's that he had snatched from their living room coffee table. Oliver was holding onto the armrests with a white-knuckled grip. And despite her exhausted frame of mind, Mary had to laugh.  
  
"It's not that bad, you know," she said, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, CD player at a low volume. There was small chatter around, and what with what was about to happen, how could anyone, even a girl as odd as Mary, sleep at a time like this?  
  
"I know. Just something new," Oliver muttered, putting on a stoic face. Mary shrugged.  
  
Meanwhile, Ron, Ginny and Trevor sat in another set of seats.  
  
"Good lord. I'm getting a headache," Ron mused out loud. Trev nodded and began fishing in his bag. He pulled out a Muggle CD player and handed it to Ron, a CD already inside of it.  
  
"This ought to do the trick," he said with a sly grin. Ron reluctantly put on the small green headphones. Ginny helped him to find the play button. Ron was unaware that the volume was turned up all the way.  
  
As soon as the music started, he jumped a foot in the air and squished his eyelids together in a grimace. Trevor cracked up and instructed him how to turn the volume down. Ginny smiled at Trev.  
  
Austin was sitting near first class next to Remus and Sirius. Austin was scowling and looking out the window. In his mind, he could see that Remus and Sirius were just a bit too close for comfort. Perhaps he was just paranoid. Yeah, that was probably it. They were good friends, wasn't that what Trev had said?  
  
But still! They were always talking to one another in quiet whispers. Austin wondered how he would make it through this plane ride whilst keeping his mouth shut about the various 'suspicions' he was harboring. Yes, that was a good idea. Things would be better for all of them.  
  
Across the aisle from him Grandma, PawPaw and Lucius were sitting tiredly in their seats. Grandma was singing a song she had just made up, aptly titled 'We're On Our Way to Disney World.' PawPaw was seemingly quite upset at this, and Lucius looked like his head was about to spontaneously combust.  
  
Alden, Percy and Fred were also sitting by one another. Alden and Fred were chatting quickly and animatedly, and Percy was breathing heavily, staring at the back of his seat in horror.  
  
"Why me, why me?" he asked quietly.  
  
Harry, George and Hermione were sitting in front of Mary and Oliver. Hermione was informing George about how an airplane worked, whilst Harry played Pokemon Gold on Mary's Game Boy. Last but not least, all the parents sat about the plane.  
  
Back to Mary and Oliver. Oliver was hyperventilating, and Mary had turned a bit in her seat. She was rubbing his back a little bit, as Draco laughed like a maniac. Oliver took a long deep breath and let it out slowly. Mary smiled at him and patted him on the back.  
  
"See, it's ok." But it was just then that the captain came over the speaker.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to be heading for the runway, so if you could fasten your seatbelts and, uh, keep your tray in the upright position, and we'll be taking off shortly." Alden, Trevor, Mallory, Austin and Mary cheered loudly. Oliver felt as if he might barf up a lung. He knew his face had turned pale. Mary unzipped her bag and handed him his bag of Lemonheads and he reluctantly took one and sat the bag in his lap, gripping the armrests.  
  
"Merlin, Wood. Don't be so frightened," Draco said with a snicker. Oliver looked down at his shoes.  
  
"He's right, Oliver. It's not that bad," Mary agreed. Oliver couldn't believe it. She was taking Malfoy's side? Well, obviously Malfoy wasn't afraid. Suddenly the plane came to life, and to his horror, it began to move onto the runway. He yelped and turned his head away from the window.  
  
"Is there a problem?" the stewardess asked, coming up beside Draco. She looked sleepy, but she had a kind look to her.  
  
"Oh, no. It's his first time," Mary said calmly, putting her hand over Oliver's.  
  
"Ah. I see. Well, you have nothing to be frightened of," The woman informed him kindly. Mary smiled and nodded.  
  
"Yeah, that's what I've been telling him," she agreed. "He's just a little nervous, aren't you, Oliver?" Oliver gulped and nodded.  
  
"Well, just let me know if you need anything," the stewardess offered, moving along. Mary turned to Oliver and sighed again.  
  
"See? You'll be just fine, I swear," she assured him. Oliver stared blankly at the seat in front of him. Once again the pilot came onto the speaker.  
  
"We are now on the runway, and have learned now that it is raining lightly. This may pick up, but for now it will cause only slight turbulence," the pilot said.  
  
At that moment, Trevor reacted.  
  
"Oh, crap!" he objected loudly.  
  
"What does that mean, slight turbulence?" Ginny asked warily. She was already beginning to get a bit nervous, but from some of the louder parts of Oliver, Mary and Draco's conversation, her slight anxiety was nothing compared to the Quidditch player's.  
  
"It means that, well, we could be in for a rough ride," Trevor said softly as the plane began speeding up. Ginny frowned.  
  
"And, well, is this safe?" she asked, blurting the first thing that came to her mind. She sort of regretted it afterward. Trev looked blankly.  
  
"Um, to be honest, I'm not really sure," he admitted reluctantly. Ginny sighed and smiled. It was then that she decided just to make do with this. Besides, when she got back to Hogwarts, she could tell them all how she had braved the plane in her Muggle studies class. And for some reason, she thought Trevor would be pretty cool about the whole thing.  
  
"Take a deep breath, Oliver," Mary said as the plane picked up more speed. Oliver trembled and Mary put her hand softly over his. "It'll be okay. See? I've done this about ten times. You might even have a bit of fun, Oliver."  
  
"Listen, I really doubt that," he countered softly. Mary sighed yet again and patted his shoulder as the plane began lifting off of the ground. Oliver game a whimper and squeezed his eyes shut. Draco gave a snicker and ate a Lemonhead out of the bag Oliver held in his lap.  
  
The plane was a few feet off of the ground by then, and Mary was seriously worried about Oliver. She shook her head and turned the volume up on 'Eleanor Rigby' by the Beatles, closing her eyes and leaning back. Oliver was breathing so heavily that he looked like he was running out of oxygen. How could Mary sleep when they were getting farther and farther up into the sky? She must really have been nuttier than a fruitcake.  
  
Across the aisle, three rows ahead, Sirius and Remus were exchanging quick, nervous glances. Austin was frowning darkly as he read out of a novel from his school's library. Why did they stick him with two adults who ignored him like so?  
  
Mom and Dad were sitting close across the aisle from Austin with Neville. Mom was making casual conversation with Neville as Dad worked out some math equations on a sheet of paper resting on his lap. He was going to fax them to his work as soon as they arrived at the All Star Music Hotel in Disney World.  
  
Apparently it had been a big controversy whether Dad should bring his briefcase. Mom was very upset, and there had been a small skirmish over this the night before. But Dad had assured her that only on the plane, and only at night when they were at the hotel would he be working. It was important.  
  
Grandma had gone silent and was now reading a small novel. PawPaw had his wallet out and was showing Lucius the picture of the whole family out at the caboose that he had owned since Trevor was a little baby, maybe even before. Lucius actually seemed like he was slightly interested, nodding along with what Paw-Paw was saying.  
  
Alden and Fred were continuing to discuss playing pranks on their siblings. They seemed to have a lot in common, and they would probably end up becoming good friends. Percy had managed to loosen up a bit and was now reading the novel which Mom had given him out of the basement. It was a horrifying tale of true crime, and Percy was morbidly fascinated by the gruesomeness of it all.  
  
Snape was sitting next to Aunt Marleena and Uncle Tommy. Uncle Tommy was interrogating Snape, just like he did at his job as a police officer. Snape was sitting in stony silence, answering each question shortly and impatiently.  
  
In an ironic display, Lockhart had been bumped up to first class. He was now being served champagne, and the good bags of peanuts. No one knew how it had happened, but one minute he was in coach like the rest of them, and the next he was in first class. This had pissed off the five cousins in an extreme way, but unfortunately, there wasn't much that they could do now.  
  
Oliver's shaking knees brushing against Mary's had woken her up.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked, slipping her headphones off, voice hoarse. She put an arm around the wizard sitting next to her. He leaned into her partial embrace.  
  
"I feel really stupid," he said with a shaking tone, looking at his fingernails. Draco was flopped in the seat, sleeping, next to him.  
  
"Don't," Mary snapped. "It's okay. You're scared or whatever. Perfectly normal. But I guess I'm just worried about ya," she admitted softly. The plane hit an air pocket and bucked. Oliver turned ashen. "It's okay. You're fine, see?"  
  
"Y-yes," he said shyly. The plane shook again and he let out a shaking breath. "Thank you." Mary smiled and lay back in her seat, slipping into slumber. The plane shook and Draco awoke with a start.  
  
"What was that?" he snapped to Oliver. Oliver turned to face him as Mary snored loudly.  
  
"I don't think it was anything, Malfoy," he said, sounding exhausted. "Anyways, how should I know?" Draco scowled.  
  
"Just go to sleep, Wood," he replied tiredly, lying his head back. Oliver did the same, and soon, he was asleep.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Now, see? I think that that's Georgia," Trevor said, pointing out the window, speaking to Ginny. Ginny looked a bit puzzled.  
  
"How can you tell?" Ginny asked, confused.  
  
"No idea," he admitted. "I'm guessing it's harder without the grid lines, state names and alternating colors like on the map."  
  
"That could be true," Ginny agreed. On her other side, Ron was in heaven. The stewardess had brought him a small cup of Coke, a bag of peanuts and a large sugar cookie. He was nibbling at the bag of peanuts, and it made him kind of resemble a little squirrel or chipmunk or something.  
  
"Enjoyin' that drink, R-Dog?" Trevor asked Ron. Ron nodded and gave him an intentionally cheesy thumbs-up. Trev returned the cheesy-ness and turned back to Ginny. "Don't you want a drink?"  
  
"Not really," she informed him. He gave her a blank look. "I'm just not thirsty. And I don't want to have to go to the bathroom."  
  
"It's not that bad, Ginny!" Ron argued. "It's a little room with a toilet in it. Really interesting, if you asked me." Trevor cocked one eyebrow and exchanged a glance with Ginny.  
  
"Ron, is that rum and Coke?" Trevor asked suspiciously. Ron laughed and shook his head.  
  
"No, no, Ron loves sweets, but has a low tolerance for sugar. It makes him a bit wired," Ginny informed him. Trevor made a small 'ah ha' sort of noise and nodded.  
  
"You sound like my sister," he grumbled. The three turned to look back, where Mary had flopped down into her seat and was snoring loudly.  
  
"Is that a good thing?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Meh. Sometimes it's just annoying, but others, it's pretty freaking funny," he explained. "Especially the time that we were at this big awards ceremony for Dad and she ate all these mint thingies, and so she couldn't hold still the whole time Mom and Dad were up on stage accepting some award. So what did she do?" The brother and sister gave Trevor a blank look. "When the man is explaining why Dad got an award, Mary yells 'Go Mom! Go Dad!' at the top of her lungs. Man, I thought Mom would kill her!" Trevor doubled over in laughter, clutching his sides.  
  
"Good lord. Mum would have strangled us if we did that," Ron told him. Ginny nodded gravely.  
  
"Oh yeah. Mom was none to happy. Mary got grounded for a day though. Mom doesn't stay mad for long. Now she thinks it's pretty hilarious, though," Trevor said glumly, obviously wishing the story was more exciting.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
We'll have the next chapter posted, ASAP.  
  
--Toad and Skye 


	4. Day One: Vans and Elephants

Operation: Random  
By Skye and Toad Rocket Disclaimer: We've been over this. We own nothing. Surely you didn't think  
we did.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Mary had woken up as soon as the pilot had come over the loud speaker. They were about half an hour away from their destination. As soon as the speaker had switched off, the plane shook. Oliver awoke with a start.  
  
"Mmrph. Are we there yet? Please, please say we are," he prayed. Mary sighed and shook her head. Oliver let out a long breath and leaned his head back onto the seat. Mary put an arm around his shoulder.  
  
"It's okay, Oliver. I thought you weren't scared anymore," Mary half-said, half-asked. Oliver looked guiltily toward the floor.  
  
"In all honesty," he began, "I'm terrified." Oliver's voice shook.  
  
"Okay. Listen, you need to get over this. What can I do to help you, Oliver?" Mary asked impatiently. Oliver picked at his fingernail.  
  
"I don't know," he said finally. Mary rolled her eyes and stood up.  
  
"Fine. I need to use the restroom," she said quietly and climbed over Oliver and a still-sleeping Draco, making her way back to the end of the plane and opening the bathroom door. When she returned to her seat, Grandma had handed Oliver a sheet of paper and sat one on Draco's lap.  
  
"Oh, there you are. I was wondering where you'd gone!" Grandma said in her usual perky tone. Mary was feeling a heck of a lot less than perky after waking up before the crack of dawn. She flashed a smile to her grandmother and then sat down to look at the paper she had been given.  
  
It was a regular sheet of computer paper. Printed at the top were the words 'Room Arrangements (drawn from a hat: so don't whine about it)', and a list following. Mary looked down until she found her name.  
  
It was typed next to 'Suite: Two Beds, Large Sofa.' She would be sharing her room with Oliver and Hermione. Mary was beginning to wonder why she was inclined to be with him every single place. And she wasn't sure how Dad would feel about that. Oh well. He was working then, so he wouldn't come back to discuss it with her, would he? Well, all Mary knew was that she was taking the 'Large Sofa.' It was just better that way.  
  
Trevor stared at the sheet of paper. 'Deluxe Room: Two Large Beds.' He was in the same room as Harry. He glanced at Ginny's name. She was sharing a 'Deluxe Room: Two Large Beds' with Mallory. Ron was sharing his 'Suite: Two Beds, Large Sofa' with Austin and Draco. That could have ended up with a huge bloodbath when Ron and Draco had a catfight. Pretty unavoidable, in his opinion.  
  
Meanwhile Mom and Dad, and Aunt Marleena and Uncle Tommy had each been pleasantly surprised when they learned that they would each be sharing a nice little room with their respective spouses, free of children. Grandma and Paw-Paw would be doing the same.  
  
Sirius and Remus would have a 'Deluxe Room Package: Two Large Beds, Free Room Service (lucky fools, Trevor thought) and Large Bathroom.' Later, Austin informed him that they seemed pretty happy about this.  
  
Alden was going to occupy a 'Suite Room Package: Three Large Beds, Free Pay- Per-View, Breakfast in Bed, Complimentary Wake-Up Call and Five Free Long Distance Calls' with Fred and Percy. Fred gave Alden a high five, but that was just as Alden noticed a little note written in the margins of their papers with an arrow pointing to 'complimentary wake-up call.'  
  
It read: "Alden, Fred and Percy-request wake up call for seven thirty AM, and then proceed to wake the whole group up by knocking (or banging, whichever is appropriate) on our doors as soon as you wake up. Everyone else- Do not ignore this knocking or else you will miss the shuttle that we have rented to take us to the monorail station!" The paper had been typed, and notes were scrawled in the margins to everyone.  
  
Note to Trevor-"Please do not leave your clothing on the floor of the bathroom or it will be a large hassle for the maid to clean up." A note to everyone read: "We will give you money each morning in order to tip your maid. Make sure to leave a note where the tip will be located!"  
  
Gilderoy, Snape and Lucius were being forced to share a room together: "Suite: Two Beds, One Large Sofa." This didn't seem to be too terrible for Lucius and Snape to be together in a room. But by the end of the vacation, Gilderoy might have several broken bones from the exasperation caused by the two adults. The last group that would be sharing a room, or pair, should we say, would be George and Neville, in a 'Deluxe Room.'  
  
"So. I guess we're sharing a room," Mary informed Oliver, trying to make a slight conversation. Draco snorted in laughter. "Dirty mind, Draco?" Draco nodded happily, which was sort of odd, if you asked Oliver. "Cool. That's the only way to go."  
  
Oliver had managed to become somewhat interested in a novel: The Catcher in the Rye. It was a permanent fixture in Mary's backpack. But he could not understand why this fellow, Holden Caulfield, was so angry about everything. In fact, in his head, he was imagining this boy to be Trevor. This wasn't good at all!  
  
Ah yes, he could see it now in his brain. Trevor stomping about the streets of New York City, drinking and swearing! Oliver quickly shook away the thought. Anyway, this Holden Caulfield had some serious anger management issues.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Okay, okay. I learned this at school. If you want to say something rude in French, just yell: 'La bouchée me, vous l'idiot!!' That means 'Bite me, you idiot!' in French," Trev exclaimed rapidly to Ginny and Ron. "Use it on Mary if she pisses you off. She taught me it!"  
  
"Hmm. Interesting," Ron murmured. Ginny nodded in agreement, and Trevor made a tsk-tsk sound.  
  
"Don't go telling people you know that, especially Paw-Paw. He was stationed in France when he was in the Army. That would not be pretty," he expressed regrettably. "That's where Mary got her bag. From Paw-Paw. She found it in the basement when they were moving to where they live now."  
  
"Interesting," Ron repeated lamely. Trevor shrugged. "So, Trevor? What exactly is Disney World?" Trevor gave Ron a totally blank look, as if he was struggling to cope with Ron's idiocy. Suddenly he got a resolved look on his face to replace the dumber one.  
  
"That's right. You've never heard of it or been there, have you?" Ginny shook her head. "Okay. Disney was this guy who made up Mickey Mouse, the most famous cartoon character ever, except Bugs Bunny. Anyways, he had lots of characters and movies such as Snow White and Bambi. So eventually he made a theme park: thus, Disney World."  
  
"But what do you do there?" Ginny asked in a strained tone.  
  
"Well. There are several different places to go, such as Adventure Land, Jungle Land and Frontier Land. They have various sets of rides in each one. My person favorite would have to be 'Jungle Cruise.' My mission this time: get anyone who will go to go on this ride where they have a big alien in a big tank. Paw-Paw says it's really cool," Trevor explained quickly.  
  
"Is there anywhere else we're going?" Ron queried, trying not to sound a bit greedy. To his relief, Trevor seemed to be thinking the same thing.  
  
"Grandma has our tickets to Sea World, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. Blizzard Beach is a snow-themed water park, Typhoon Lagoon is a tropical water park, and Sea World is where you can feed stingrays and see whales and the like," he informed them, settling back in his seat.  
  
"Ooh. I'd love to see a stingray," Ginny said. "I read about one in one of the books in the basement at your house. It sounded to strange to be real." Trevor chuckled.  
  
"Yup, they're real. You can buy food and they'll eat it, right out of your hand," he exclaimed. Ginny looked like she was going to die of happiness.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Paw-Paw was having such a stress-filled day, and he had only been up and about for a few hours now. It was about seven thirty AM now, and he had been up since three thirty, because his crazy wife had some more things to pack and had been so wired that she woke up early just because she simply could!  
  
Now he was in a plane, sitting next to a person who could only be described as 'semi-hostile,' and yet the two seemed to get along suitably. And as soon as the family got to the airport they had to get about three large cars. He had asked for three vans, but boy, did he hope that they would be normal looking ones.  
  
Boy, was he wrong.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"This is your captain speaking. We are preparing to land, so please put on your seatbelts and put your tray table in the upright position. Thank you." Oliver gave Mary a sheepish smile.  
  
"It's okay. You'll be freaked for awhile, but it'll be fine," she said, taking a Lemonhead from his bag. She drank from the travel mug of hazelnut coffee, but just then the plane hit a large bump, and the coffee washed into her lap. "Damn!"  
  
The plane was buzzing loudly, so no one heard Mary's swear. "Lovely," Oliver mused. Mary shrugged.  
  
"As if they care," she said, wiping at her jeans with a small napkin. Draco smirked.  
  
"Having issues, Mary?" he asked. She sighed and balled up the napkin, heaving in onto the back of the seat in front of her and having it bounce back and hit her in the face before falling onto the floor.  
  
"Yeah. As a matter of fact, I am," she said with a sigh. Draco snickered.  
  
"How bad of a day could you be having? I mean, you're on a vacation that probably set back your grandparents a few pennies, so to speak. Your school fell into a sinkhole, so, gasp, you don't have to go. Need I continue?" Draco asked sarcastically. Mary sighed.  
  
"I suppose you're right. I just get angry when I spill hot coffee on myself, you know?" Draco didn't know because he despised coffee. But he decided just to humor her with a nod.  
  
Meanwhile, Oliver took a deep breath and let it out slowly as the plane finally made contact with the ground. The plane made a weird noise and Mary looked like someone had ruffled her feathers.  
  
"I'm alive!" Oliver cried out to everyone on the plane. Mary grimaced and looked toward the floor, putting her hand over her face and smiling slightly.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Whoo! We survived!" Mom said to Neville, as all of the passengers started to exit. Neville cracked a smile and fell behind to walk with Mary, Oliver and Percy. Ginny, Trevor and Austin and Alden walked together off of the horrid plane. Trevor nearly toppled over.  
  
"Heh. My legs hurt," he said as he stumbled to walk out of the plane. Mary met up with him when they got to the baggage claim.  
  
"Hey, Porkchop. Hey, Austin-and-Alden," she said, hoisting her bag over her shoulder. "Quite the flight, hmm?" Mallory came up to join the group of cousins.  
  
"Are we actually going anywhere today?" she asked. Alden rolled his eyes.  
  
"I bet you guys one hundred dollars we don't. They'll be like 'I'm so tired. Let's just sleep in today,'" he said thoughtfully. Austin and Trevor shook his hand.  
  
"I hope you have fifty bucks for each of us," Austin countered. "Because we will be at Disney World by one o'clock today, even if Mary has to drive us." At this Mary looked a little queasy.  
  
"Well, Austin, um, technically I'm not allowed to drive without an adult in the car as of now. I mean, yeah, some of my friends are allowed to drive alone. But I took my test late, and it's just really complicated for me to explain. So, in short, I need either Mom, Dad, your mom, your dad, Grandma or PawPaw in the car with me," Mary explained.  
  
"Hmm. What about Sirius or Remus? Or, God forbid, Snape, Lucius or Lockhart?" Trevor questioned. Mary sighed and shrugged.  
  
"Well, not really legally, but nothing is illegal until you get caught, right guys?"  
  
"You and Mallory and Alden did get caught last summer when you were 'trespassing' down on the railroad," Austin replied.  
  
"That was not our fault!" Alden snapped back. "The railroad people in the little car had told us that we could go down there, and everyone was working at the festival thingy for Thomas the Tank Engine. And so we went down there, and that no-good cop came down and we got in trouble," he explained. He was looking at Mallory and Mary, who were standing next to him and nodding.  
  
"Ooh. You got in trouble!" Fred said in a sing-song voice. "So, did you get hauled into the station?"  
  
"Not even close," Mary said with a sigh. "It was worse in some ways. They took us to our parents, who were working at the photo booth. I mean, I could have run away, but I didn't."  
  
"You know, my mom didn't care, really," Mallory mused. "Yours didn't either, I seem to recall."  
  
"That's because Mary explained it. Maybe if the cop gave his version of the tragic tale, things could have ended up differently," Trev mused. Mary shook her head.  
  
"I'm to cool to get in trouble with the parents," she said in an exaggerated tone. "Aww, crap. You guys made me miss getting my bag." She retrieved the lumpy looking Navy suitcase covered in pins and buttons. It was one of about four. Trevor, meanwhile grabbed an old 'He-Man' bag, filled to the brim and slung it onto a little cart that the parents had rented.  
  
Mom and PawPaw had gone off to collect the rental cars. Dad and Uncle Tommy were loading up an army of the little luggage carts, but Mary handed a bag to Hermione and one to Ginny.  
  
"Why don't we just put these on the carts, Mary?" Ginny questioned. Mary looked aghast at that suggestion.  
  
"Are you kidding? I don't trust airports any further than I can throw them. Which is not far. Not far at all," Mary mused, looking off into the distance. Trevor, meanwhile, had the same ethics.  
  
"Hold this," he said, passing a Looney Tunes suitcase to Harry and tying the He-Man bag onto the handle. Harry gave him a puzzled look.  
  
"Well, I am not trusting this place. I will not lose this stuff!" he said fiercely. Harry shrugged.  
  
"If you say so," he agreed reluctantly.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"What the-?" Dad yelled when he saw the three cars that they had rented, running around them in horror.  
  
"I know," Mom said grimly. They had rented three old VW vans, complete with shag carpeting in the back. "We'll be hippies."  
  
But in the kid's perspective, it was awesome.  
  
"Whoo! Hippie vans! Yeehaw!" Trevor and Mary whopped, dancing about the parking lot. Soon their three cousins had joined into the dancing circle.  
  
"How did this happen?" Uncle Tommy demanded to PawPaw.  
  
"All the good vans were taken! We didn't know," PawPaw shouted angrily, throwing his hands into the air.  
  
"I guess we'd better make the best of this," Grandma said in a chipper tone. "I think it'll be fun! We'll get to tell everyone about our week in the sixties!" Mary had already laid claim to a yellow and white van.  
  
"Mom! Mom! Can I drive?" Mary begged in a hyper mood. Mom sighed.  
  
"Fine. If you really want to. Do you think you can stay awake?" Mom asked, concerned.  
  
"I had coffee on the plane! It was hazelnut! I made it before we left!" she said, playing with her owl necklace.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Wow! Look at this place!" Ron exclaimed. "It's almost bigger than Hogwarts!" The hotel loomed in front of the rattling old bus. Grandma and Mary sat in the front seat, Trevor and Ginny in the seats behind that, and everyone else in the large back of the van. The hotel was truly large and pristine. Mary crookedly parked the yellow van in front of the entrance of the hotel. She wasn't a very good driver, and her family teased her about it all the time.  
  
"Hey, Grandma?" Mary asked, jumping out of the van. Grandma looked at Mary's strange parking job and turned her look to Mary. She had her hand on her hip and the most ridiculously large sunglasses on the face of the planet on, looking serious. Grandma put on a large grin.  
  
"What, sweetie?" Grandma asked, patting her arm. Mary grinned and grabbed the cursed Army bag and put it on over her shoulder.  
  
"Are we going actually to the park today?"  
  
"Mmhmm, honey. We're taking the monorail." Trevor's face tumbled into a wide smile and he ran over to his two male cousins.  
  
"You owe me! You owe us both, fifty freakin' dollars! Pay up! Pay up!" he screamed in pure happiness. Alden grimaced and began riffling through a thick envelope and tossed Trevor and Austin both a few bills. The two victorious boys slapped each other high fives and grinned like demented clowns.  
  
Meanwhile, Mallory and Mary were clapping excitedly.  
  
"I love the monorail!" Mary cried, clapping her hands along with Mallory. Mom and Dad had arrived in their van and were shoveling bags out of the back of it, along with PawPaw, who had driven the other one. Soon there was a mountain of luggage in front of the hotel.  
  
Uncle Tommy, who had gone in to register, emerged with a fleet of faux gold carts. Mary felt like there was so much to be done right then, and thus, she began putting many of the antique suitcases that she had brought with her onto a cart.  
  
"Where did you get those?" Neville asked suddenly, gesturing towards the suitcases. Mary turned to face him.  
  
"Thrift store. Twenty bucks for the lot of them. Amazing deal, no?" she asked as she began lifting Trevor's cartoon-adorned suitcases onto a separate cart, selecting a Bugs Bunny one to take to the room as Oliver's.  
  
"You visit those places a lot?" Percy asked, coming up behind Neville.  
  
"Oh yeah. Every weekend me and Trev go there. It's a tradition. I mean, they have good deals. And the two of us can go through stuff for hours and not get bored at all. It's sort of like a brother and sister activity," she explained, looking weary but happy at the same time.  
  
"That's a nice tradition," Percy agreed softly. Mary put an arm around him.  
  
"Are you okay? You sound upset." She sounded concerned.  
  
"Ugh, I'm just tired, I guess."  
  
"Sure. Come on; let's go inside to the vending machines. You, dear, look like you are in serious need of a candy bar," Mary insisted, taking his hand and leading him into the lobby, looking about until she noticed a sign which read 'Vending' and lead him to it. She poked three pairs of quarters into the machine and bought a Hershey bar and a pack of Starbursts.  
  
"Here," she said, passing him the chocolate as they hurried to the door, where they met the large, noisy crowd as they passed into the air conditioning. The wheels of suitcases clicked on the linoleum, and idle chatter filled the cool air. Mary had a pleasant smirk on her face as Percy chewed the candy quietly.  
  
Maybe Percy was just shy. He had always seemed quiet to her anyways. He didn't have to do things loudly like his brothers to make an impact. He looked to be the quiet outside in the family. Sometimes she knew how he felt, an intruder to the warmth of an actual family.  
  
But then, when her Dad would tease her with jokes about the time she hit a janitor in the head with football, or when Trevor and her would play Tony Hawk's Pro Skateboarding and sing along with the music, things seemed to come back together, at least for a while.  
  
"Arrgh. Listen to me, with all this philosophical, let-me-analyze you, tell- me-about-your-childhood crap," she muttered, chasing it with a sigh. Ah, well, everyone feels like crap sometimes. But was she the only one who did it all the time? "There I go again!" she snapped at herself.  
  
Alden and Austin and Trevor were yelling about various things, while Mom and Dad and Uncle Tommy and Aunt Marleena didn't even attempt to shush them. As a matter of fact, they were buzzing too. Uncle Tommy handed Mary and Hermione each a key, and distributed one to most everyone, but if there were three people in the room, only two got keys.  
  
"Oliver, can I discuss something with you?" Dad asked suddenly as the group boarded the large elevators. Mary got a stricken look on her face. "We'll catch up with you guys later, okay?" He turned to Oliver. "This will only take a second. Oliver gulped as Dad practically dragged him into a small hallway. Oliver received a stern look from Dad right then.  
  
"Listen, Wood. I understand you're going to be rooming with my little girl. Is that true?" he asked roughly. Oliver's eyes swept down to the floor.  
  
"Um, yes, sir." Dad frowned and stabbed a threatening finger at Oliver, who blinked in horror.  
  
"I see. Well. If you try, or even think about trying, something with my daughter, I will be on you so fast. I will break off any appendage you try to use on my daughter. If anything does happen, break her heart, and I will break your neck. Understood?" Dad growled. Oliver's eyes were the size of hubcaps.  
  
"Yes, sir," he said timidly. Dad gave him a huge, clownish smile and patted his shoulder.  
  
"That's a good boy. Remember what I told you, and we'll all get along great. Okay?" Dad said in a newly chipper tone.  
  
Oliver's pulse was racing. He managed to choke down the heavy lump in his throat while he nodded gravely. Dad smiled again and pushed the 'up' button.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Holy crap! This is the best room ever!" Trevor cried as he leapt on the bed and began jumping up and down like a fiend. He tossed the bellhop a five-dollar bill and a huge grin as the man finished unloading all of their bags. The man smiled back politely, and, if Trevor wasn't imagining things, hurriedly backed out of the room. "What do you think about it, H-Dog?"  
  
Harry raised his eyebrows at the new nickname.  
  
"Wow. It's much nicer than my room at my aunt and uncle's house. And when I'm at school I share my room with four other people. This should be nice," he assessed. Trevor seemed satisfied by this and grinned back at Harry.  
  
"Shibby. Let's start unpacking, eh Harry? Grandma will be getting after us to get ready to go. Want to borrow my Vans?"  
  
"Your what?"  
  
"My Vans. I got them at the thrift store. Seven dollars and fifty cents. Excellent deal," he explained. "They're shoes, and really comfy."  
  
"Um. Sure." At that moment, Mary came into Trevor's room and flopped onto the bed, looking distressed.  
  
"What's a-matter?" Trevor asked, biting his thumbnail.  
  
"Dad threatened Oliver!" she wailed after a few seconds. "He said if he 'tried anything funny' with me, he'd tear his limbs off! Exclusively the ones he, um, got 'fresh' with!" Trevor and Harry stared at Mary for a second, before exchanging a glance and bursting into peals of laughter.  
  
"It's not funny!" Mary yelled.  
  
"Shut up! Mom will hear you!" Trevor hissed back. "Anyway, I'm sorry, but those words and your expression-just, well, priceless!" Harry chuckled in agreement.  
  
"Screw you! You have no idea how to be sympathetic! What if Harry's parents threatened if you made a move on him that you'd die?" she blurted, before looking amused at her remark. "Ooh, now there's an image." She turned around and waltzed out of the room, before Trevor glanced at Harry.  
  
"What just happened?"  
  
"Don't ask me."  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Now, is everyone here?" Grandma asked. The whole shuttle sounded off in agreement. "Well, I'll have a list written up for tomorrow so I can take roll."  
  
"Ah, crap. Just like school," Trevor sighed to Ginny, who smiled. The shuttle began barreling to the monorail station.  
  
"Oh, by the way, everyone, this is Jonathan, and he will be driving us to the monorail station and to the hotel and the like," PawPaw introduced. Everyone mumbled a greeting as Jonathan waved without looking back.  
  
Mary sat in the backseat, wedged in between Oliver and Percy.  
  
"Won't this be spectacular?" Neither of the two had seen Mary this excited since their first night, when Trevor had agreed to watch the Nightmare Before Christmas.  
  
"Um, I guess so," said Percy, who had had the duty of informing Oliver what Disney World was. When he was a little boy, his father had told him about American Muggles, who all seemed to love this enormous mouse. Percy had always thought that this was strange. He hated rodents.  
  
Oliver, meanwhile, was a bit hesitant to answer. "I guess."  
  
"I know what this is all about," Mary said, leaning in to whisper into his ear. "But my father is all talk. He wouldn't hurt you if you talked to me or whatever." Oliver gave a sheepish smile.  
  
"Uh. I, um, okay," he stumbled over his words in a freakish tone. Mary patted his shoulder.  
  
"Good. I'm glad we got that cleared up," Mary agreed and began drumming her fingers on her knee. "Ho-hum."  
  
"So. What are we going to ride first?" Grandma was shouting, as if no one could hear her.  
  
"Jungle Cruise, all the way!" Trev screamed back.  
  
"The Dumbo thingy!" Mary argued.  
  
"Ah, but there's plenty of time, for we have all day!" Grandma yelled again.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"You have got to be kidding me. We're riding in a big elephant?" Oliver said, shooting a wary glance at the flying elephants.  
  
"Yes!" Mary exclaimed with a laugh. "Come on. It's our turn," she said, leading him to a 'Dumbo.' The two of them boarded and she put her arm around him.  
  
"I hate heights," he grumbled. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I hate them. I may ride brooms all the time at school, but the heights bother me."  
  
"I'm aware of that, Oliver. Come one. Don't be a pansy. This is the most fun ride in the whole park. Well, maybe that's not the truth, but it does rock." Mary fluffed the top of his hair. He trembled a bit as the ride began, but quickly stilled.  
  
Oliver took a deep breath as the ride rose into the air. Soon the large elephant was high in the air and the ride began to rotate, and the elephant began to bounce up and down. Oliver screeched in excitement and Mary laughed along with him.  
  
After a few minutes, the ride came back to the ground and ceased to move. Oliver stepped out of it with knocking knees, but a grin nonetheless.  
  
"Well? What did you think?" Mary asked in a sweet and put-on tone.  
  
"It was fun," he admitted, smiling back. "What's next?" She shrugged.  
  
"Teacups?" she suggested, but just then, Trevor came up behind her and leapt upon her back. She made a shrieking sound and forced him off.  
  
"Hahaha. You should have seen your face!" Trevor exclaimed. Ginny smiled guiltily from behind Trevor. Draco stood next to her. "So, you're going to ride the teacups?"  
  
"Mmhmm. Do you think the five of us could fit in it?" Mary questioned.  
  
"We'll make ourselves fit!" Trevor exclaimed. And Draco could have sworn that within thirty seconds, the group had boarded a yellow cup with pale pink stripes.  
  
"Just so you know, this was probably not a smart idea on your part. Mary and I love this ride and anyone who rides it with us generally gets, well, ill," Trev cautioned. But by then it was too late. The ride had started, and the brother and sister had begun rapidly spinning the wheel in the center of the cup about, making the teacup spin faster and faster until Draco swore he would hurl out the side.  
  
The yellow cup passed by one in varying shades of blue, and Trevor saw his aunt, uncle, mom and dad in it, along with his screaming grandmother. He pointed to them and Mary doubled over in laughter. The two wondered how they had managed to get her on there in the first place.  
  
The ride was over as soon as it had begun, and Draco hurried to a trash bin (unable to make it to the restroom) and emptied the contents of his stomach into it. Mom went up behind him as he continued to, well, be ill in the garbage receptacle. She gently rubbed his back and made sympathetic noises.  
  
"Kids, go have fun. I'll stay here with him," she suggested, and that was that. The group of teenagers hurried to the next ride ('It's a Small World After All'). It reminded Trevor of a running scene on Scooby Doo or something. The group rushed through the line and boarded the boat, quickly fastening their seatbelts and sitting. Soon the overly happy music was weaving its way in and out of the teenager's psyches in a sickening way.  
  
They exited the ride in a stupor, reeling from the extreme nature of that music. Ginny began singing it in an overly perky tone, inspiring horror.  
  
"I think it's time we ride something more, for lack of a better word, violent, perhaps?" Trevor suggested.  
  
"Thunder Mountain Railroad!" Mary yelled, making several people stop and look at her funny. "Please, Trevor? Please?!" It was really quite pathetic the way she was almost crying over riding this ride. 


End file.
